> 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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\i  sultatt  liid«  dfip  m  aistotral  tomls. 
(^!«se  toards  cf  trull  i^u  taa  milotl  dttoiU 


THE    CITIZEN'S    LIBRARY 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 


BY 

ANNIE  MARION   MacLEAN,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF   SOCIOLOGY  IN   ADELPHI 
COLLEGE 


INTRODUCTION 
By  Grace  H.  Dodge 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1910 

All  rights  reserved 


CoPYPiGHT,  igio, 
By  the  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  June,  1910. 


Norhjooij  5P«s« 

J.  S.  Gushing^  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


H3 


Co 

CHARLES   RICHMOND   HENDERSON 

TEACHER,   COUNSELOR,   FRIEND 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/wageearningwonnenOOmacl_0 


PREFACE 

The  study  of  a  wide  field  in  industry  cannot  be  ac- 
complished by  one  person  within  a  reasonable  period, 
owing  to  obstacles  of  time  and  space.  Therefore,  the 
only  practicable  means  of  making  such  a  study  is  to 
employ  assistance.  In  the  investigation  which  forms 
the  subject  of  the  following  chapters  I  was  authorized 
to  engage  such  help  as  I  needed,  and  it  gives  me  great 
pleasure  to  acknowledge  here  my  indebtedness  to  the 
forty  assistants  who  made  this  story  of  wage-earning 
women  possible.  Their  work,  as  well  as  mine,  appears 
in  the  following  pages.  Theirs  was  the  task  of  collect- 
ing material  and  furnishing  reports  on  their  respective 
fields,  mine  the  task  of  planning  and  directing  and 
editing. 

The  complete  Hst  of  investigators,  with  the  sections  of 
country  in  which  they  worked,  is  given  in  Appendix  I, 
but  I  want  to  acknowledge  particularly  my  obligation  to 
those  who  acted  as  sub-directors  in  the  groups  to  which 
they  were  assigned,  viz. :  Miss  Grace  Lyman,  in  Chi- 
cago, Miss  Caroline  Manning,  in  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  and  Miss  Amy  Tanner,  who,  with  an  assistant, 
made  the  study  of  the  coal  fields  in  Pennsylvania, 
included  in  chapter  nine.  In  addition  to  these,  my 
thanks  are  due  in  special  measure  to  my  friend  and 
co-worker.  Miss  Amy  Hewes,  of  Mt.  Holyoke  College, 
who  not  only  took  charge  of  the  New  England  investi- 
vii 


viii  PREFACE 

gation  and  became  responsible  for  the  complete  reports, 
but  also  aided  by  her  inspiration  and  encouragement, 
the  larger  task.  My  thanks  are  also  due  to  my  efficient 
secretary,  Miss  Anna  Seaburg,  whose  devotion  to  details 
made  possible  the  completion  of  the  work.  The  kindly 
cooperation  of  men  and  women  all  over  the  country 
helped  at  every  turn.  Busy  social  workers  and  people 
of  leisure,  employers  and  employees,  assisted  wher- 
ever they  could  and  enabled  us  to  carry  the  work  to  its 
conclusion.  I  have  to  thank  the  editors  of  the  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Sociology  for  permitting  me  to  use  again 
material  that  has  already  appeared  in  its  pages. 

But  in  presenting  the  following  glimpses  of  women 
at  work,  I  must  acknowledge  my  great  personal  indebt- 
edness to  the  one  to  whom  the  whole  study  is  due  — 
Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge,  President  of  the  National  Board 
of  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  one  of  the 
stanchest  friends  the  working  women  of  the  country 
ever  had.  Her  appreciation  of  difficulty,  her  constant 
encouragement  and  counsel,  caused  the  hardships  of 
the  task  to  vanish,  and  only  the  joy  in  achievement  to 
remain. 

ANNIE  MARION  MacLEAN. 

New  York  City, 
January,  1910. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  National  Board  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations,  organized  December,  1906,  has  for  its  pur- 
pose to  unite  in  one  body  the  Associations  of  the  United 
States ;  to  develop  and  unify  such  Associations ;  to 
advance  the  physical,  social,  intellectual,  moral,  and 
spiritual  welfare  of  young  women  ;  and  to  participate 
in  the  work  of  the  World's  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association.  There  are  affiliated  with  it  190  city  Asso- 
ciations, many  with  special  industrial  departments;  630 
student  Associations  in  colleges  and  schools ;  and  five 
mill  village  Associations. 

Early  in  January,  1907,  the  National  Board  realized 
that  before  true  progress  could  be  made  it  was  nec- 
essary, first,  to  study  its  own  work  as  represented  in 
the  above  Associations ;  second,  to  investigate  and 
study  the  possibilities  lying  before  the  Association 
movement  throughout  the  country.  As  one  means  to 
this  end,  a  Sociological  Investigation  Committee  was 
formed,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  asking  Dr.  Annie 
Marion  MacLean,  professor  of  sociology,  Adelphi  Col- 
lege, to  act  as  director  of  the  investigation,  with .  an 
advisory  committee  of  the  following:  Dr.  C.  R.  Hen- 
derson, University  of  Chicago  ;  Dr.  Carl  Kelsey,  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  ;  Dr.  Amy  Hewes,  Mt.  Holyoke 
College  ;  Miss  Clare  de  Graffenried,  Washington  ;  and 
Dr.  C.A.  Ellwood,  University  of  Missouri. 

These  busy  friends  most  generously  gave  time,  thought, 
ix 


X  INTRODUCTION 

and  effort  to  make  the  work  complete  and  successful. 
It  gives  me  pleasure,  in  behalf  of  the  National  Board, 
to  thank  most  heartily,  not  only  this  special  committee, 
but  also  the  many  other  committees  and  individual 
workers  in  social  questions,  as  well  as  organizations, 
who  have  so  willingly  cooperated  in  the  work ;  fur- 
ther, to  thank  the  president  and  trustees  of  Adelphi 
College,  who  for  months  gave  free  use  of  college  rooms 
for  the  investigation  headquarters ;  also  to  express  to 
the  donor  of  the  fund  which  made  the  work  possible 
the  appreciation  and  thanks  of  the  Board. 

It  would  have  been  hard  to  find  a  stronger  or  wiser 
director  of  the  investigation  than  Miss  MacLean.  She 
has  for  years  been  in  sympathy  with  the  Association 
movement,  and  recognized  that  much  more  could  still 
be  done  by  the  Associations  in  the  way  of  meeting  the 
obligations  resting  upon  them.  Further,  Miss  MacLean 
has  long  been  an  earnest  student  of  sociology  and  is 
the  enthusiastic  head  of  the  growing  department  of 
sociology  in  Adelphi  College.  She  showed  in  every 
detail  of  the  investigation,  wisdom,  economy,  and  a 
cooperative  spirit.  The  results  of  the  year's  study 
were  given  from  time  to  time  to  state  and  territorial 
committees,  and  the  vast  array  of  papers,  statistics, 
and  special  reports  is  now  in  the  offices  of  the 
National  Board.  The  demand  came  not  only  from 
Association  friends,  but  also  from  others,  to  have  at 
least  some  of  the  results  of  the  investigation  in  more 
permanent  form,  and  therefore  this  book,  prepared  by 
Miss  MacLean,  is  presented  to  all  those  interested  in 
w^age-earning  women.  The  book  naturally  covers  only 
a  limited  range  of  the  great  subject  and  has  not  touched 
many  phases. 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

Some  years  ago  in  a  gathering  of  wage-earners,  cer- 
tain young  women  were  present  who  were  very  "  busy 
girls,"  but  not  weekly  earners.  The  question  was 
asked,  ^^  How  can  Miss be  a  member  of  a  Work- 
ing Girls'  Club?''  Quickly  a  voice  came  from  the  far 
end  of  the  room,  saying,  "  Of  course  she  can  be  a  mem- 
ber, and  an  important  one,  for  she  has  had  her  wages 
earned  for  her  in  advance,  and  so  she  should  do  more 
for  the  Club  than  those  of  us  who  are  receiving  weekly 
sums."  This  answer  contains  a  great  truth  and  has 
often  been  amplified.  All  over  the  land  there  are 
thousands  of  young  women  who  have  had  ^'  their  wages 
earned  for  them  in  advance  "  by  grandfather  or  father. 
They  have  time,  and  owe  it  to  their  laboring  sisters  to 
share  with  them  their  leisure,  means,  and  selves^  cooperat- 
ing together,  not  working  for,  but  with.  Knowledge 
gives  confidence  and  power. 

It  is  earnestly  hoped  that  this  book  will  be  studied 
by  thousands  of  those  who  have  had  ^'  their  wages  in 
advance,"  as  well  as  by  hundreds  of  others,  and  that 
from  the  study  will  come  a  desire  to  work  with  the 
wage-earners,  in  bringing  to  all  fresh  inspiration  and 
a  deeper  meaning  of  life.  The  motto  of  the  National 
Board  is,  "I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life,  and 
that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly."  The  One 
who  thus  promises  the  abundant  Life  has  honored  us 
by  allowing  us  to  be  colaborers  with  Him. 

To  repeat,  it  is  hoped  that  the  facts  contained  in  this 
book  may  so  impress  many  that  they  will  have  confi- 
dence and  power  in  trying  to  bring  a  fuller  life  to  the 
brave  and  great  army  of  wage-earners,  found  not  only 
in  this  country,  but  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 

GRACE  H.  DODGE. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface        .         , •        .        vii-viii 

Introduction ix-xi 

CHAPTER  I 

Scope  and  Purpose  of  Study 1-9 

No  effort  made  to  center  on  several  great  industries 
and  follow  their  course  in  different  sections  of  the  country, 
for  this  has  been  done  by  other  bodies,  notably  the  gov- 
ernment —  Desire  rather  to  learn  a  good  deal  about  many 
women  with  a  view  to  stimulating  efforts  in  their  behalf 

CHAPTER   II 

Women  Workers  in  New  England  ....         10-30 

Original  home  of  the  factory  girl  —  Numbers  —  Chief 

industries    in    which    employed  —  Selection    of    certain 

trades    here  —  Paper,    shoes,    textiles  —  Conditions    of 

work  —  Type  of  workers  —  Wages 

CHAPTER   III 
The  New  York  Worker      ......         31-54 

At  her  best  and  at  her  worst  —  Total  number  em- 
ployed—  Variety  of  occupations — Many  nationalities  — 
Ensuing  difficulties  —  Women  in  specified  industries  — 
Textiles,  clothing,  paper  goods,  department  stores 
—  Conditions  of  labor  —  Wages  —  Statistics  —  Better- 
ment undertakings  —  Charts  showing  (l)  Nativity, 
urban  or  rural  ;  (2)  Rural  nativity,  reasons  for  coming 
to  city,  etc. ;  (3)  Working  conditions  ;  (4)  Social  life  ; 
(5)  Statistics 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV 

PAGE 

The  Chicago  Worker 55-73 

The  girl  in  the  factory  —  As  a  garment  maker  —  Paper 
worker  —  Electrical  worker  —  Saleswoman  —  Statistical 
comparisons  with  New  York  —  Interest  of  community  — 
Homes  —  Clubs  —  Unions  —  Settlements 

CHAPTER  V 

Women  in  New  Jersey  Towns 74-84 

Many  toilers  —  Conditions  in  silk  mills  —  Thread  mills 

—  Potteries  —  38  mills  —  7500  workers 

CHAPTER  VI 
Women  Toilers  in  the  Middle  West      .        .        .         85-98 
Special  groups  —  Making  clothes,  buttons,  and  beer  in 
Iowa  —  Making  clothes  and  thread  in  Michigan  —  Con- 
ditions —  Wages  —  Needs 

CHAPTER  VII 

Hop  Picking  in  Oregon 99-115 

Seasonal  employment  —  Field  for  women  —  Living 
conditions  —  Wages  —  Difficulties 

CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Fruit  Industries  of  California        .        .        .      116-129 
Growing  field  for  women  —  Character  of  work  —  Liv- 
ing arrangements  —  Wages  —  Problems 

CHAPTER  IX 

Women  in  the  Coal  Fields  of  Pennsylvania         .     130-159 
Social  conditions  of  women  who  live  in  the  mining 
centers  —  Drudgery  at  home  —  A  study  in  foreign  popu- 
lation—  Difficulties  to  be  met  —  Dearth  of  opportunity 

—  Needs  outlined  —  Suggestions  for  improvement 


CONTENTS  XV 

CHAPTER   X 

PAGE 

Uplifting  Forces 160-174 

Investigation  —  Trades  unions  —  Legislation  —  Wel- 
fare work  — Social  settlements  —  Working  girls'  societies 
—  Housing  —  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  — 
Many  still  not  reached 

CHAPTER  XI 

Suggestions  for  Improvement 175-180 

The  chief  needs  —  Larger  social  life  —  Greater  effi- 
ciency —  Legitimate  recreation  —  Cooperation  where 
possible  —  Suggested  programme 

APPENDICES 

I.   List  of  Investigators 181 

II.   Schedules 184-188 

III.    Statistics  relative  to  Women  Wage-earners  in  the  United 

States 189-190 

Bibliography 191-198 

Index 199-202 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

CHAPTER  I 

Scope  and  Purpose  of  Study 

In  a  recent  discussion  of  the  difficulties  inherent  in  in- 
dustrial adjustment,  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley  said  that  there 
are  no  more  shifting  data  than  those  which  concern  em- 
ployment, and  this  belief  must  be  shared  by  all  who  have 
thought  carefully  about  the  subject.  She  further  said,  in 
elucidation  of  her  statement,  "One  thing  was  true,  for 
instance,  Wednesday  evening  at  five,  but  something  hap- 
pened to  change  it  all  by  Thursday  morning  at  ten.'' 
Here  is  a  specific  instance  of  this  which  came  to  the  no- 
tice of  the  writer.  A  certain  factory  had  for  some  time 
employed  ninety  stenographers,  all  girls ;  but  the  policy 
of  the  company  suddenly  changed,  and  the  girls  were  re- 
placed by  men  over  night,  thus  lessening  by  one  the 
number  of  establishments  employing  women  in  that  town, 
and  subtracting  ninety  from  the  total  number  of  women 
employed.  Such  occurrences  soon  render  the  statisti- 
cians' statements  false,  but  what  is  infinitely  more  serious 
they  render  the  worker's  hfe  precarious. 

This  state  of  industrial  flux,  pointed  out  by  a  trained 
observer  like  Mrs.  Kelley,  is  one  of  the  conspicuous  hard- 
ships which  women  workers  have  always  to  face,  possibly 
to  a  greater  extent  than  men,  on  account  of  their  weaker 
bargaining  powers.  A  semi-romantic  interest  is  often 
attached  by  those  away  in  the  distance  to  the  girl  who 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

guides  a  machine  and  banters  her  comrades  the  while, 
but  when  the  truth  is  known,  she  leads  a  very  unromantic 
life,  full  of  grim  reahties  which  she  meets  often  enough 
with  heroism. 

The  chapters  which  follow  are  designed  to  give  only 
glimpses  of  these  women  wage-earners  as  they  toiled  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  during  the  year  1907,  and 
mainly  in  the  summer  and  autumn  months  before  the 
effects  of  the  financial  stringency  were  observable.  The 
investigation  upon  which  these  glimpses  are  based  was 
undertaken  primarily  that  officers  and  workers  of  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  might  know  more 
about  the  young  women  whom  they  would  serve.  But  it 
was  also  hoped  that  others  who  had  made  no  special 
study  of  industrial  Hfe  might  become  acquainted  with 
some  of  its  varied  phases,  and  thus  develop  interest  in 
local  situations,  at  least. 

The  needs  of  the  associations,  however,  became  the 
dominant  factor  in  determining  the  sections  of  country  to 
be  studied.  The  entire  time  might  have  been  spent  in 
following  one  great  industry  to  its  various  centers,  but 
such  a  course  would  not  have  satisfied  the  needs  of  the 
organization  responsible  for  the  investigation.^  The  desire 
was  rather  to  learn  a  good  deal  about  many  women  in  various 
trades  with  a  view  to  stimulating  efforts  in  their  behalf. 
The  industries  ^  selected  in  each  place  were  the  half  dozen 
or  more  employing  the  greatest  number  of  women. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  certain  kinds  of  work, 
such  as  the  clothing  trade  and  making  of  textiles,  stand 
out  rather  prominently  in  many  of  the  cities  investigated 

1  It  was  known  that  the  federal  government  would  undertake  an 
exhaustive  study  of  several  great  industries  a  few  months  later. 

2  No  study  of  sweat-shops  was  undertaken. 

2 


SCOPE  AND  PURPOSE  OF  STUDY 

because  they  happen  to  be  conspicuous  everywhere  in  util- 
izing the  services  of  women. 

That  woman  is  continually  entering  new  occupations  is 
true,  but  it  is  Hkewise  true  that  she  clings  to  the  long-estab- 
lished ones,  and  is  found  in  greatest  numbers  in  these. 
Certain  physical  limitations  tend  to  direct  her  choice. 
Where  unusual  strength  is  required,  woman  cannot  be 
advantageously  employed,  but  where  endurance  is  a  req- 
uisite, she  is  economically  desirable.  The  average  girl 
could  not  mine  coal,  fit  joists,  or  clean  sewers,  but  she 
can  sell  notions  for  ten  hours  a  day,  and  stand  all  the 
time,  paste  labels  on  cans  month  in  and  month  out,  and 
tend  looms  day  after  day  for  years.  The  effect  upon  her 
health  may  eventually  be  as  disastrous  as  if  she  had  en- 
gaged in  the  heavier  labor,  but  she  can,  at  least  for  a 
time,  be  serviceable  to  her  employer.  The  sexes  are 
thus  naturally  absorbed  by  the  industries  in  which  they 
can  be  utilized  most  successfully.  Even  when  working  in 
the  same  industry,  they  will  generally  be  found  employed 
in  different  processes,  and  so  it  transpires  that  women  are 
doing  about  the  same  things  in  the  manufacturing  indus- 
tries in  the  east  as  in  the  west.  Sometimes  we  saw  them 
side  by  side  with  men,  more  often  they  were  in  large  or 
small  groups  by  themselves.  But  whatever  the  arrange- 
ment, there  was  always  the  nerve-destroying  strain  that  so 
often  turns  girls  into  haggard  creatures  at  thirty,  and  de- 
prives them  of  their  heritage  of  health. 

The  investigation  dealt  with  women  in  widely  scattered 
regions  from  New  York  City  to  the  Pacific  coast,  includ- 
ing typical  mill  towns  in  New  England  and  New  Jersey, 
the  mining  regions  of  Pennsylvania,  the  great  industries 
of  Chicago,  certain  small  cities  of  Michigan,  and  the  great 
Middle  West  with  developing  manufacturing  interests,  and 
3 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

the  seasonal  work  of  picking  hops  in  Oregon,  and  picking, 
drying,  packing,  and  canning  fruit  in  CaHfornia.  The 
National  Board  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associ- 
ations had  already  made  studies  of  Southern  mill  villages, 
so  the  South  was  not  included  in  this  survey. 

The  following  table  shows  in  detail  the  cities  and  indus- 
tries studied : 


Women! 

Place 

Industries 

Employed  in 

Establishments 

Investigated 

New  York 

New  York  City 

Clothing 

5000 

Electrical  supplies 

750 

Cigars,  candy,  etc. 

2400 

Printing  and  paper 

goods 

1000 

' 

Textiles 

2000 

Stores 

15,000 

Laundries 

300 

New  Jersey 

Jersey  City 

Watches 

500 

Food  and  cigars 

1275 

Paper  boxes 

200 

Soap,  perfume,  etc. 

140 

Textiles 

150 

Pencils 

150 

Laundry 

120 

Newark 

Clothing 

1650 

Rivet  works 

150 

Printing  and  paper 

goods 

500 

Shoes 

160 

Cigars 

300 

Paterson 

Clothing 

800 

Textiles 

650 

1  Round  numbers  are  used  throughout. 

4 


SCOPE  AND  PURPOSE  OF  STUDY 


Women 

Place 

Industries 

Employed  in 

Establishments 

Investigated 

Trenton 

Potteries 

New  England 

I.  Massachusetts 

Springfield 

Clothing 

400 

Metal-working  trades 

200 

Cigars  and  candy 

300 

Printing  and  paper  goods 

650 

Wood  fiber  manufactures 

300 

Textiles 

300 

Stores 

300 

Ludlow 

Jute  yarn 

1400 

Holy  oka 

Printing  and  paper  goods 

450 

Paper  manufactures 

1500 

Textiles 

4000 

Lowell 

Textiles 

12,000 

Lynn 

Shoes 

2000 

Electrical  supplies 

2200 

Fall  River 

Textiles 

15,000 

2.  Rhode  Island 

Providence 

Jewelry  making 

1000 

3.  Connecticut 

New  Haven 

Clothing 

1400 

Metal-working  trades 

2300 

Printing  and  paper  goods 

150 

Rubber  goods 

750 

WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 


Place 

Industries 

Women 

Employed  in 

Establishments 

investigated 

4.  New  Hampshire 

Manchester 

Shoes 

1600 

Textiles 

7800 

Pennsylvania 

Mining  regions^ 

Illinois 

Chicago 

Clothing 
Metal-working  trades 

1000 
2200 

. 

Printing  and  paper  goods 

Stores 

Mail  order  houses 

750 

17,500 

4000 

Telephone  operating 

4200 

Elgin 

Watches 

1800 

Michigan 

Publishing 

125 

Belding 

Silk  thread 

750 

Jackson 

Clothing 

900 

Iowa 

Des  Moines 

Clothing 

Food 

Textiles 

75 

275 

Stores 

500 

Dubuque 

Clothing 

Cigars  and  breweries 

700 
250 

Muscatine 

Buttons 

500 

Nebraska 

Omaha 

Clothing 
Meat  packing 
Stores 

800 

350 
900 

1 A  special  study  was  made  of  the  living  conditions  of  the  women. 

6 


SCOPE  AND  PURPOSE  OF  STUDY 


Women 

Place 

Industries 

Employed  in 

Establishments 

Investigated 

Lincoln 

Clothing 

170 

Laundries 

115 

Missouri 

Kansas  City 

Clothing 

550 

Food  and  meat  packing 

900 

Stores 

400 

Lead  Regions^ 

Oregon 

Hop  fields 

California 

Fresno 

Fruit  picking,   canning, 

drying,  and  packing 

2000 

San  ]os6 

Fruit   picking,   canning. 

drying,  and  packing 

1000 

Oakland 

Clothing 

50 

Fruit  canning,  etc. 

100 

Lithographing 

50 

Gloves 

75 

San  Francisco 

Clothing 

400 

Fruit  canning,  etc. 

800 

Glass 

40 

Paper  boxes 

40 

The  plan,  as  outlined,  was  carried  out  by  a  staff  of 
twenty-nine   women ^  holding  degrees   from  seventeen^ 

1  A  special  study  was  made  of  the  living  conditions  of  the  women. 

2  See  Appendix  I  for  names  of  investigators. 

8  Acadia,  Adelphi,  Bellevue,  University  of  California,  Carleton,  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago,  Columbia,  Cornell,  University  of  Michigan,  Mount 
Holyoke,  Oberlin,  University  of  Oregon,  Radcliffe,  Syracuse,  Wellesley, 
Wilson,  Woman's  College  of  Baltimore. 

7 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

colleges.  Of  these,  eight  have  advanced  degrees  from 
universities  in  this  country  or  in  Europe.  Several  of  the 
investigators  had  had  practical  experience  in  investigating, 
while  all  had  had  more  or  less  theoretical  training.  The 
entire  staff,  including  office  force,  at  work  during  the 
progress  of  the  investigation  numbered  forty. 

The  field  work  of  the  investigators  commenced  June  lo, 

1907.  On  that  date,  two  entered  upon  the  Pennsyl- 
vania study  and  one  began  in  New  England.  On  the 
17th  of  June,  one  started  in  New  York.  With  these 
exceptions,  the  main  body  of  the  work  opened  July  i. 
The  investigation  in  the  Far  West  began  in  Septem- 
ber owing  to  the  seasonal  character  of  the  industries 
selected.     The  last  of  the  field  studies  closed  May  31, 

1908.  The  actual  time  spent  in  the  investigation  outside 
of  office  work  was  a  total  of  208  weeks,  or  the  equivalent 
of  four  full  years'  time  of  one  worker. 

The  study  was  carried  on  in  accordance  with  a  set  of 
five  schedules  ^  and  specific  instructions.  Schedule  I 
asked  for  certain  confidential  information  from  representa- 
tive employers.  Schedule  II  sought  general  information 
in  regard  to  population,  nationalities,  chief  industries, 
women  employed,  and  efforts  in  behalf  of  these  women 
for  each  town  or  city  studied.  Schedule  III  was  for  use 
in  the  mining  regions  of  Pennsylvania  and  Missouri. 
Schedule  IV,  "  Homes  for  Working  Women, '*  was  intro- 
duced because  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
has  maintained  boarding  homes  for  many  years,  and  it 
seemed  desirable  to  learn  of  all  similar  undertakings  in 
the  cities  studied.  The  "  subsidized  boarding  house," 
cooperative  club,  women's  hotel,  and  the  hke,  come 
under  this  head.  Schedule  V  called  for  detailed  informa- 
1  See  Appendix  II. 

8 


SCOPE  AND  PURPOSE  OF  STUDY 

tion  concerning  individual  women  in  regard  to  working 
and  living  conditions  and  social  life  generally. 

In  addition,  an  exhaustive  study  was  made,  in  all  the 
sections,  of  betterment  undertakings  for  working  women 
as  found  in  social  settlements,  working  girls'  clubs,  trade 
unions,  the  churches  and  other  organizations  contributing 
to  the  uplift  of  women  wage-earners.  The  investigation 
was  unique  in  character  inasmuch  as  it  was  the  first 
study  of  industrial  life,  national  in  scope,  to  be  carried  on 
by  a  body  of  college  women  at  the  instance  of  a  definitely 
religious  organization,  and  the  story  is  told  in  the  hope 
that  it  will  awaken  a  more  vital  interest  in  a  class  upon 
which  the  burdens  of  life  frequently  rest  heavily. 

In  all,  four  hundred  establishments  employing  135,000 
women  in  more  than  a  score  of  cities  were  investigated. 
The  following  chapters  deal  with  a  part  of  this  long  story, 
and  the  part  chosen^  should  be  of  interest  to  those  who 
care  at  all  about  the  millions  of  girls  who  arise  early  and 
go  forth  to  a  weary  day,  spent  in  the  main  in  making 
things  that  concern  us  greatly.  By  their  toil  life  becomes 
easier  to  many  of  us,  and  while  we  enjoy  the  freedom  let 
us  not  forget  our  young  emancipators. 

1  General  interest,  coupled  with  the  desire  of  the  national  organiza- 
tion responsible  for  the  work,  determined  the  choice.  Material  not  in- 
cluded here  has  been  used  in  other  ways. 


CHAPTER  II 
Women  Workers  in  New  England 

It  seems  but  fitting  that  this  study  of  women  wage- 
earners  should  begin  in  the  section  that  gave  us  the  origi- 
nal factory  girl,  for  it  was  in  New  England  that  women 
and  girls  first  went  out  in  large  numbers  to  work  with  their 
husbands  and  fathers  and  brothers  in  the  mill.  They  fol- 
lowed the  industries  from  the  fireside  to  the  factory.  It 
was  a  natural  movement  stimulated  in  many  cases  by  ne- 
cessity. At  that  time  public  opinion  frowned  on  the  idle 
girl,  and  work  was  considered  a  crowning  virtue ;  so  the 
factory  girl  was  not  commiserated  but  commended.  Things 
have  changed  in  the  last  century,  and  now  we  find  most 
people  of  humanitarian  instincts  looking  with  regret  at  the 
spectacle  of  young  girls  marching  to  the  mills.  The  pro- 
cession is  a  long  one  now  in  the  old  New  England  towns, 
and  it  is  growing  longer  with  the  years. 

Women  are  found  in  practically  all  the  industries,  but  the 
extent  of  their  employment  in  the  textiles,  shoes,  and  paper 
goods  renders  a  discussion  of  conditions  in  these  trades  of 
especial  interest.  The  making  of  paper  was  studied  in 
western  Massachusetts  chiefly,  the  centering  of  the  work 
in  this  section  making  it  a  most  desirable  starting-point. 
Women  in  the  shoe  industry  were  studied  in  Lynn,  while 
Fall  River  and  Lowell  furnished  the  story  of  the  textile 
workers,  and  it  is  the  purpose  to  narrow  the  story  down 
to  those  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth,  since 
this  is  a  product  so  commonly  used  by  everyone,  and  in 


WOMEN   WORKERS   IN   NEW   ENGLAND 

the  manufacture  of  which  every  woman  particularly  should 
have  a  vital  interest. 

Cotton.  —  When  Charles  Dickens  came  to  America,  it 
was  to  Lowell  he  went  to  see  the  cotton-mills  in  operation, 
and  it  was  of  those  mills  he  wrote  his  glowing  picture  of 
factory  life  for  women.  "They  looked  like  human  beings/' 
he  said,  "not  like  beasts  of  burden."  If  he  were  to  come 
to  us  to-day  to  see  the  cotton  workers,  he  would,  in  all 
probability,  be  taken  to  Fall  River  first  and  asked  to  be- 
hold the  product  of  the  evolution  of  two  generations.  He 
would  see  no  beautiful  window  boxes,  no  smiling  girls 
making  poetry  as  they  worked,  or  moving  about  with  songs 
on  their  lips.  Life  is  grim  in  the  Fall  River  mills  and 
the  women  come  perilously  near  having  the  mien  of  "  beasts 
of  burden."  The  semi-idylUc  conditions  of  the  early  New 
England  cotton-mill  have  given  way  to  a  system  brutalized 
by  greed  and  the  exigencies  of  modern  industry.  The 
pressure  of  immigration  upon  the  American  worker  is 
apparent  here.  Once,  the  fairly  well-to-do  farmers  had 
daughters  in  the  cotton-mills,  girls  who  had  gone  to  the 
factory  towns  to  work  and  at  the  same  time  enjoy  the  ad- 
vantages of  town  life.  The  long  day,  sometimes  drawn 
out  to  fifteen  hours  or  more,  seemed  not  to  be  particularly 
burdensome,  and  the  freshness  and  buoyancy  of  girlhood 
were  not  lost  in  the  toil.  But  this  was  before  the  days  of 
the  half-starved  foreigner,  able  to  exist  on  very  little,  and 
eager  for  work  at  any  pay ;  before  the  days  of  the  great 
machines  that  virtually  control  men.  The  immigrant  and 
the  machine  of  great  speed  have  pushed  the  native  worker 
before  them  out  of  the  mills,  and  into  other  occupations, 
and  the  change  goes  on.  One  alien  race  after  another, 
lured  to  the  mills,  crowds  the  earlier  arrival  and  underbids 
it  oftentimes.  The  weaker  ones  grow  poorer  than  before, 
II 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

and  the  struggle  for  life  grows  fiercer.  The  ignorant  for- 
eign worker  is  no  match  for  the  modern  factory,  and  it 
crushes  him  before  he  understands  the  freedom  of  the  new 
land.  The  women  suffer  most  because  they  are  not  fitted 
by  nature  to  bear  the  strain.  They  are  weakened,  and  their 
little  children  die  before  their  time.  It  is  a  hard  Hfe,  a 
cruel  life,  that  is  lived  by  the  cotton-mill  operatives  to-day. 
Long  hours  at  sinew-  and  nerve-breaking  speed,  coupled 
with  uncertainty  of  employment  and  consequent  lack  of 
security  of  even  a  meager  income,  tend  to  dwarf  the  in- 
dividual morally  as  well  as  physically,  and  the  dull,  hard 
faces  of  the  workers  should  excite  no  surprise. 

In  Fall  River,  there  are  one  hundred  mills  under  forty- 
two  corporations.  All  but  three  of  these  make  cotton 
cloth.  The  entire  population  numbers  104,863,  and  16,170 
of  these  are  wage-earning  women  sixteen  years  of  age  and 
over.  Lowell,  on  the  other  hand,  has  several  large  cor- 
porations operating  a  great  number  of  mills,  each  having 
from  ten  to  twelve  buildings  and  employing  about  17,600 
people,  4931  of  whom  are  women,  and  1000,  girls  under 
sixteen.  But  the  '^spindle  city,"  even  though  it  employs 
so  many  people  and  is  able  to  produce  a  mile  of  cloth 
every  minute  of  the  working  day,  must  drop  behind  Fall 
River  ^  in  the  value  of  her  cotton  output. 

In  these  cities,  we  many  observe  the  general  processes 
of  making  cotton  cloth,  which  are  presented  here  in  order 
that  woman's  part  in  the  industry  may  be  better  under- 
stood :  (i)  After  the  cotton  bales  have  been  opened  by 
men  and  *^  mixed,''  that  is,  tossed  or  pulled  apart  some- 
what, with  occasional  help  from  lower-class  immigrant 
women,  the  raw  material  is  put  through  the  first  machines 
in  the  card  room  ta  be  picked  or  cleaned  and  comes  out 
^  And  also  behind  Philadelphia. 
12 


WOMEN   WORKERS   IN   NEW   ENGLAND 

"picker  lap."  This  is  men's  work  almost  entirely. 
(2)  The  "lap  "  put  through  carding-machines,  very  largely 
by  men,  becomes  "  card  sliver  "  ;  then  (3)  is  drawn  finer, 
into  "drawing  sliver,"  and  (4)  is  drawn  out  still  smaller 
and  wound  on  "  slubber  bobbins,"  very  often  by  men.  It 
then  (5)  continues  on  the  speeder  frames  to  be  drawn  out 
more  and  more  and  wound  in  turn  on  "  intermediate 
bobbins,"  then  (6)  on  ^^  roving  bobbins,"  and  (7)  on 
"  fine  roving  bobbins."  It  is  finally  (8)  put  on  the  ring 
spinning  frames,  tended  usually  by  women  and  children,  or 
on  "mules,"  tended  always  by  men,  and  spun  into  warp 
or  filling. 

In  the  card  room,  women  tend  the  speeders  of  all  grades, 
and  girls  generally  are  the  doffers,  that  is,  they  remove 
the  full  bobbins  and  replace  them  with  empty  ones  on  one 
frame  after  another. 

(9)  The  spun  warp  yarn  is  wound  off  on  spools  on 
frames  outwardly  similar  to  the  speeder  frames  — women's 
work,  usually  done  by  younger  women  and  under  cool 
and  pleasant  conditions. 

(10)  The  spools  are  then  placed  on  racks  and  wound 
off  on  great  rolls  by  machines,  tended  by  young  women, 
who  ordinarily  have  chairs  which  they  can  use  at  times. 

(11)  The  resulting  warp  goes  through  the  great  hot 
"  slashers,"  always  tended  by  men,  usually  and  preferably 
more  or  less  partitioned  off,  and  is  thus  "starched." 

(12)  The  rolls  of  warp  then  go  to  the  drawers-in,  girls 
perched  on  stools,  who,  with  a  special  Httle  hook,  draw 
the  ends  through  the  eyes  of  the  loom  harnesses.  These 
ends  are  then  tied  in  to  go  safely  to  the  weavers.  "  Filling  " 
goes  directly  to  the  weavers. 

(13)  The  weavers   tend   from    four  to  twenty  looms 
each,  the  former  only  in  case  of  very  fine  or  fancy  weav- 
es 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

ing,  the  latter  but  seldom.  Ordinarily,  women  tend  six, 
eight,  or  ten  looms,  according  to  their  own  strength  and 
skill,  the  kind  of  work,  and  the  character  of  the  loom. 
The  drop-wire  or  stop-motion  looms  stop  automatically 
if  a  thread  breaks,  and  so  do  not  necessitate  such  careful 
watching  or  quick  work  as  the  others.  Complaint  is  made 
that  weavers  are  called  upon  to  tend  too  many  looms  so 
fitted,  and  also  that  the  looms  waste  time  by  stopping  for 
merely  loosened  threads. 

(14)  Cloth-room  processes  come  last,  and  in  some 
mills  are  not  found  at  all,  one  cloth  room  serving  for  a 
group  of  mills  under  one  corporation.  Here  are  trimmers, 
inspectors,  and  folders,  who  are  all  likely  to  be  women 
except  for  an  occasional  man  for  the  heavier  lifting  or 
other  work  the  girls  cannot  well  handle.  Hours  are  shorter 
here,  and  wages  the  lowest  in  the  mills.  The  trimmer 
sits  or  stands  at  will  before  a  simple  machine  through  which 
the  cloth  is  rolled  slowly  enough  for  her  to  trim  oif  loose 
ends  or  knots,  or,  stopping  the  machine,  to  mark  serious 
defects  which  must  have  more  elaborate  remedy.  The 
folders  usually  stand  before  machines  which  fold  the 
finished  product  for  the  market.  Inspectors  also,  as  a 
rule,  stand. 

Such,  then,  is  the  way  in  which  cotton  cloth  is  made, 
and  it  is  seen  that  women  are  found  in  practically  every 
stage  of  its  development.  The  work  is  not  easy,  neither 
is  it  carried  on  under  desirable  conditions.  One  might 
suppose  that  certain  difficulties  for  the  worker  necessarily 
inhere  in  the  processes,  were  it  not  for  the  light  of  mod-  ^ 
ern  science  —  a  Hght  which  has  not  yet  permeated  the 
gloom  of  most  cotton-mills. 

Frequently  the  air  is  full  of  cotton  fluff  in  the  card 
room,  and  it  is  usually  extremely  hot  in  summer  in  the 

14 


WOMEN   WORKERS   IN    NEW   ENGLAND 

spinning  rooms,  where  the  rapidly  revolving  spindles  gene- 
rate great  heat.  The  weaving  rooms  are  generally  hot 
and  always  slightly  damp.  The  necessary  moisture  is 
ordinarily  supplied  by  spraying  steam  into  the  room.  A 
few  of  the  newer  and  more  progressive  mills  use  cold 
spray  "  humidifiers,"  by  which  the  temperature  is  kept 
automatically  at  70  degrees  throughout  the  year.  In  the 
average  mill  a  temperature  of  120  degrees  in  some  rooms 
is  not  uncommon. 

Very  few  mills  seem  to  have  any  improved  ventilat- 
ing system;  and  draughts  from  the  windows,  especially 
the  warm  drying  breezes  of  summer,  make  trouble 
with  the  work,  causing  threads  to  break  both  in  spin- 
ning and  weaving.  The  newer  mills  have,  besides  the 
usual  two  sashes  per  window,  an  upper  small  section 
swung  on  horizontal  pivots,  or  horizontally  hinged,  so 
that  it  can  open  at  an  angle  with  the  rest  of  the  win- 
dow. The  air,  as  a  rule,  is  rather  hot  than  close,  there 
being  so  few  people  in  each  great  room.  In  winter,  the 
mills  are  heated  by  steam,  with  seldom  any  introduction 
of  fresh  air  save  through  windows.  There  is  some  com- 
plaint of  overheat  and  dampness. 

The  windows  are  always  supplemented  by  artificial 
light,  usually  electricity,  for  the  darker  days,  and  dark 
hours  of  winter  days.  In  basement  weaving  rooms, 
such  as  the  "  rat  pit "  of  certain  mills,  or  large  rooms 
in  old  mills,  where  windows  are  small,  artificial  light 
must  be  used  the  major  part  of  the  day.  Some  of 
the  mills  are  experimenting  with  ground  glass  window- 
panes  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  whiter  light.  Employees 
complain  that  this  tires  the  eyes,  and  also  exasperates  the 
soul  because  of  its  opaqueness. 

Dressing  rooms  are  unknown  except  for  a  little 
15 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

screened  alley  between  clothes  hooks,  seen  in  one  mill. 
Women,  as  a  rule,  eat  lunch  sitting  on  the  floor.  Other- 
wise they  sit  on  window-ledges,  fire-escapes,  door-sills, 
occasional  boxes,  and  very  rare  chairs. 

Accommodation  for  retirement  is  uniformly  lacking. 
Typically,  the  men's  and  women's  toilets,  both  labeled, 
are  side  by  side ;  often  their  approaches  are  separated 
by  a  wooden  screen  perpendicular  to  their  entrance 
wall. 

Seats  are  always  provided  for  drawers-in ;  practically 
always  for  warper  tenders,  who  sit  at  times ;  seldom 
for  spoolers  or  speeder  tenders,  who  may  sometimes 
sit  on  chance  bobbin  boxes ;  almost  never  for  spinners, 
whose  frames  are  often  so  close  that  there  is  not  a  place 
for  even  a  box  anywhere  except  at  the  end  of  a  very 
long  row ;  sometimes  for  weavers,  —  if  the  seats  for  these 
are  fastened  to  the  looms  the  vibration,  nerve  racking  in 
any  case,  is  tremendous ;  always  for  trimmers ;  occasion- 
ally for  inspectors  and  folders. 

The  working  day  is  theoretically  lo^  hours,  Saturday, 
51^  hours  in  all  cases.  The  cotton-mill  carries  with  it  a 
story  of  a  long  and  a  hard  day.  The  mills  usually  open 
about  half-past  six  in  the  morning,  and  the  complaint  is 
general  that  workers  are  compelled  to  begin  from  five  to 
fifteen  minutes  ahead  of  schedule  time  both  morning  and 
noon. 

Such,  then,  are  the  conditions  under  which  many 
thousands  of  women  work  in  the  cotton  industry.  The 
workers  are  merely  the  hands  that  make  the  machines 
go,  and  frequently  they  are  not  cared  for  as  well  as  the 
machines,  because  they  are  more  easily  replaced,  —  so 
easily  replaced,  indeed,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  con- 
sider them  at  all. 

i6 


WOMEN   WORKERS   IN   NEW   ENGLAND 

It   is   instructive   to  consider   the  remuneration  that 
goes  with  such  work  as  has  been  described.     The  aver- 
age weekly  earnings  in  the  various  grades  of  women's 
work  appeared  to  be  about  as  follows  : 
Doffers $4-75  to  $  7.00 


Spoolers 

Fly-frame  tenders  of  various  kinds 
Ring  spinners      .... 

Warpers 

Drawers-in 

Weavers 


5.00  "  8.00 

7.00  "  9.00 

7.00  '^  8.00 

8.00  "  10.00 

8.50  "  12.50 

9.00  "  18.00 


Certain  of  these  averages,  of  course,  indicate  very  good 
wages ;  that  is,  on  the  assumption  that  work  is  steady, 
which  is  not  always  the  case.  One  superintendent  stated 
that  the  average  weekly  wage  for  all  women  in  his  es- 
tablishment was  ^7.11  ;  another  claimed  ^8.54;  a  third, 
$']  \  a  fourth,  ^8  ;  another,  ^7.61 ;  still  another,  ^7.75  ; 
and  still  others  $9.17,  $\  and  ^5.12.  These  figures  do 
not  tell  of  the  dire  need  that  exists  among  too  many  cot- 
ton workers,  high  wages  in  certain  cases  hiding  the  low 
in  a  fair  average. 

Leaving  these  women  for  a  time  to  the  roar  of  their 
machines  and  the  nervous  strain  always  upon  them,  let  us 
view  the  women  making  shoes  for  us. 

Shoemaking.  —  For  two  hundred  years  the  making  of 
shoes  has  flourished  in  Lynn.  When  the  first  shoemaker 
arrived,  ten  acres  of  land  were  voted  him  in  recognition 
of  the  value  of  his  services  to  the  primitive  little  com- 
munity. It  was  the  custom  of  the  men  he  trained  to 
travel  from  town  to  town  and  take  up  their  residence 
with  different  families,  staying  long  enough  with  each  one 
to  make  a  year's  supply  of  shoes  for  every  member. 
Gradually  little  shoe  shops  sprang  up  in  Lynn  and  in 
c  17 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

them  the  trade  was  learned  and  practised.  Many  of 
these  wooden  sheds  are  standing  to-day  and  are  still  known 
as  "  tenfooters."  Perhaps  it  was  the  proximity  of  the  sea 
which  made  it  natural  to  give  nautical  names  to  so  many 
things.  At  any  rate,  the  working  force  is  even  now  called 
the  shop's  "crew"  and  each  man  has  his  "berth,"  not 
bench.  The  berths  let  for  about  a  dollar  a  year  in  the 
early  days  and  each  shop  had  its  "captain."  They  all 
contributed  for  fuel  to  heat  the  tiny  place  in  winter,  and 
they  made  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  cents  on  each  pair 
of  shoes. 

Farmers  who  tilled  the  fields  in  summer  made  shoes  in 
winter,  and  long  before  the  time  of  the  middleman  ex- 
changed them  for  goods  at  the  Boston  stores.  The  men 
cut,  lasted,  and  attached  the  soles  in  the  shops,  while  the 
women  bound  them  in  their  homes.  "  Nearly  every 
woman  had  her  shoe  basket,  containing  uppers  and  lin- 
ings, and  beside  her  ordinary  household  duties  strove 
each  day  to  bind  a  number  of  shoes."  These  were  the 
days  of  Lucy  Larcom's  "  Hannah,"^  so  widely  and  so  affec- 
tionately remembered  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

But  methods  were  soon  to  change.  Before  1815,  the 
shoes  were  all  hand-made,  the  heavy  ones  being  welted 
and  the  lighter  ones  turned.  The  shoe  peg  was  intro- 
duced about  that  time.  In  1845  machinery  came  into 
use  in  some  places,  though  not  in  Lynn  until  1852.     Its 

l"Poor  lone  Hannah, 

Sitting  at  the  window  binding  shoes ; 
Faded,  wrinkled, 

Sitting  stitching  in  a  mournful  muse. 
Bright-eyed  beauty  once  was  she, 
When  the  bloom  was  on  the  tree  ; 
Spring  and  winter 

Hannah's  at  the  window  binding  shoes." 
18 


WOMEN   WORKERS   IN    NEW   ENGLAND 

advent  inevitably  meant  large  buildings  and  the  factory 
system.  Even  where  the  small  shops  continued  for  a 
time  they  received  the  upper  and  lower  stock  from  the 
factories,  where  the  shoes  were  all  finished. 

Specialization  has  characterized  shoemaking  in  its  de- 
velopment, as  it  has  almost  every  other  industry.  Be- 
tween seventy  and  eighty  hands  are  required  to  make  a 
pair  of  shoes,  and  we  find  the  cutters,  closers,  stayers, 
foxers,  side-stayers,  stitchers,  liners,  closers-on,  turners, 
top-stitchers,  eyeleters,  and  vampers  —  men  and  women 
—  all  at  work  in  the  same  factory. 

Unfortunately  for  the  thousands  of  women  employed, 
the  industry  is  of  a  seasonal  character,  making  the 
matter  of  employment  uncertain,  since  many  hands  are 
laid  off  after  the  busy  season.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that 
all  the  shoes  required  for  a  year's  consumption  might 
easily  be  produced  in  nine  months.  Even  some  of  the 
best  stitchers,  earning  approximately  ^20  a  week  when 
work  is  plentiful,  leave  the  industry  altogether  for  certain 
months  of  the  year.  In  many  instances  during  these 
months  women  engage  in  dressmaking,  domestic  service, 
music  teaching,  in  short,  anything  that  presents  itself. 

Women  are  employed  chiefly  in  the  stitching  rooms. 
The  heavier  work,  such  as  cutting  the  leather  and  attach- 
ing the  upper  to  the  sole,  is  done  entirely  by  men.  Be- 
sides stitching  the  linings,  vamps,  and  uppers,  a  few  girls 
and  women  are  engaged  in  packing  the  shoes  into  boxes, 
putting  in  laces  and  sewing  on  buttons  by  hand  or  ma- 
chine, repairing  the  patent-leather  tip,  cleaning  and  pol- 
ishing and  "  skiving  "  ;  that  is,  preparing  the  edge  for  turning 
in  at  a  seam.  Stitching  with  single  and  double  needle 
on  the  vamps  requires  skill  and  is  well  paid.  This  is  also 
true  of  the  closers-on  and  those  who  stitch  the  uppers. 
19 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

Stitching  involves  some  eye  strain  but  is  comparatively 
clean  work,  and,  except  for  the  incessant  noise  of  the 
machinery,  is  usually  done  under  favorable  conditions. 

There  are  in  the  whole  country  36,490  women  in  the 
shoemaking  business,  and  it  is  estimated  that  about  one- 
third  of  these  are  in  Lynn  —  a  number  large  enough  to 
be  of  considerable  significance.  Twelve  thousand  women 
would  normally  mean  12,000  famihes  now  existing  or  to 
be  estabhshed  in  the  future,  and  too  much  interest  can- 
not be  evoked  in  the  character  of  the  work  engaged  in 
by  so  many  actual  or  potential  mothers,  and  in  the  money 
return  made  to  them. 

In  connection  with  the  question  of  wages  the  seasonal 
character  of  shoemaking  should  not  be  forgotten.  The 
average  wage  for  individuals  is  probably  very  seldom  an 
average  for  fifty-two  weeks.  Besides  the  general  flux  of 
the  trade,  there  is  often  a  secondary  shift  between  the 
different  departments  of  a  factory.  If  the  cutters  work 
faster  than  the  rest,  then  some  of  them  must  be  laid  off 
until  the  stitchers  can  catch  up  with  them.  This  may  be 
an  hour,  or  several  hours,  or  even  days,  and  the  same  is 
true  of  each  successive  process. 

This  loss  of  time,  however,  varies  greatly  from  factory 
to  factory.  One  manager  says  that  such  delays  show  bad 
management,  and  that  it  is  quite  possible  to  have  a  defi- 
nite number  of  shoes  turned  out  in  a  day,  so  that  each 
worker  knows  in  the  morning  how  much  is  ahead  of  her. 
Then  it  is  the  manager's  business  to  get  the  various  kinds 
of  workers  so  adjusted  to  each  other  that  there  will  be  no 
waiting  necessary  at  any  stage  of  the  process.  If  a  swift 
worker  comes  on,  or  several  swift  ones,  so  that  certain  de- 
partments get  ahead  of  the  others,  one  of  the  weaker 
women  can  be  dropped  and  thus  the  balance  regained. 

20 


WOMEN  WORKERS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

Under  this  system  of  a  definite  number  of  shoes  a  day, 
the  earnings  become  practically  a  day  wage. 

These  delays,  however,  occur  in  a  great  majority  of 
factories  in  spite  of  expert  testimony  that  they  are  un- 
necessary. The  existence  of  this  system  greatly  modifies 
the  seeming  good  pay  of  some  workers,  as,  for  instance, 
the  stitchers,  who  on  full  time  earn  from  ^lo  to  $16  and 
even  ^18  and  ^20  a  week.  Of  course,  the  unskilled 
workers  and  those  paid  by  time  suffer  also  from  the  un- 
evenness  of  the  work.  Outside  the  big  factories,  there  is 
almost  always  a  sign  calling  for  different  operatives, 
"Wanted  —  tip-fixer,  foxer,  vamper,  etc.,'*  and  the  labor 
shifts  from  place  to  place  as  it  is  needed. 

As  in  all  piece-work,  there  is  wide  variation  in  the  indi- 
vidual workers,  so  that  an  average  wage  is  not  very  signifi- 
cant. Here,  however,  the  average  for  women  and  girls 
is  a  good  deal  under  ^8  ;  possibly  for  fifty-two  weeks  in 
the  year  it  is  nearer  $6,  the  minimum  and  maximum  wage 
being  about  ^4  and  ^20.  The  best  stitching  makes  the 
best  appearing  shoe ;  and  while  a  stitcher  may  get  four 
cents  a  pair  for  her  work  on  the  high-priced  shoes,  a 
medium  grade  will  bring  only  two  cents,  —  yet  in  some 
cases  she  may  earn  more  money  on  the  latter  because  the 
character  of  the  work  permits  of  greater  speed.  Vamping 
is  most  difficult  to  learn,  and  work  on  the  under  vamp 
shoe  now  so  much  in  vogue  offers  the  best  opportunity 
for  profit.  If  allowed  to  work  on  this  style  all  day  a  swift 
worker  may  earn  ^4  or  ^5  in  ten  hours. 

The  wages  for  the  different  grades  of  work  vary  greatly. 
One  manager  estimated  them  to  run  from  ^7  to  ^14,  with 
the  average  for  the  whole  number  at  ^9.  They  also  vary 
shghtly  from  shop  to  shop.  In  one  factory  employing 
1000  women,  the  vampers  are  paid  one  cent  a  pair  for 
21 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

cheap  shoes,  and  a  cent  and  a  half  for  costly  ones,  and  a 
good  vamper  can  do  twenty-four  dozen  pairs  of  cheap,  or 
twenty  dozen  pairs  of  costly  shoes  in  ten  hours,  thus  earn- 
ing from  $2,S8  to  ^3.60  a  day.  This  is  the  most  skilled 
and  best  paid  work.  The  packers,  who  are  among  the 
lowest  paid,  get  five  cents  a  case  of  forty-eight  pairs  of 
shoes  and  pack  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  cases  in  a  day, 
earning  from  ^1.25  to  ;?i.so.  The  wages  of  the  others 
run  between  these  two  extremes. 

The  piece-work  system  seems  popular  in  spite  of  the 
nervous  strain,  which  is  discounted  because  of  the  greater 
freedom  in  time  which  it  allows,  and  possibly  it  adds  a 
certain  interest.  The  only  complaint  is  when  a  limit  is 
placed  on  the  amount  which  may  be  earned.  This  limi- 
tation, however,  is  unavoidable  when  a  limited  amount  of 
work  is  to  be  given  out. 

The  presence  of  many  married  women  in  the  stitching 
rooms  should  not  be  overlooked  in  a  discussion  of  wages. 
They  often  earn  as  much  as  their  husbands.  Frequently 
stern  necessity  keeps  the  wife  at  work,  her  wage  being 
required  to  maintain  even  a  low  standard  of  living.  This 
sometimes  means  that  very  young  children  are  left  at 
home  without  care,  and  the  mother  has  little  choice  be- 
tween deserting  her  home  in  the  daytime  or  seeing  her 
children  without  sufficient  food  and  clothes.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  in  Lynn  a  surprising  number  of  women  with 
families  who  remain  at  work  in  order  that  they  may  enjoy 
more  luxuries  ;  and  the  combined  income  of  husband  and 
wife  makes  possible  a  manner  of  living  far  ahead  of  that  of 
the  ordinary  laborer.  Many  live  in  cottages  very  elabo- 
rately furnished,  spend  a  considerable  amount  on  amuse- 
ments, own  pianos,  fine  clothes,  and  in  one  case,  an  auto- 
mobile. 

22 


WOMEN  WORKERS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

The  conditions  in  most  of  the  factories  are  fair.  The 
modern  building  is  taking  the  place  of  the  old  frame 
structure,  though  there  still  remain  a  number  of  two  and 
three-story  wooden  shops.  Even  in  the  new  brick  ones, 
however,  floor  space,  which  is  very  valuable,  has  in  all 
cases  been  carefully  utilized.  Apparently  there  has  been 
none  to  spare  for  dressing  and  lunch  rooms ;  and  racks, 
with  or  without  a  partition  around  them,  are  made  to  serve 
the  former  purpose.  The  sanitary  arrangements  fulfil  the 
requirements  of  the  law  and  httle  more  can  be  said  of  them 
except  in  one  or  two  instances.  Toilets  are  insufficient 
in  number  and  poorly  located,  inasmuch  as  those  for 
women  ordinarily  adjoin  those  for  men. 

Usually  the  employees  are  forbidden  to  use  the  freight 
elevators,  the  only  kind  in  existence  in  any  of  the  factories  ; 
sometimes  they  may  do  so  at  their  own  risk,  and  again 
permission  is  given  to  ride  up  only. 

In  shape  many  of  the  buildings  are  long,  narrow  tri- 
angles, with  many  windows.  Even  under  such  an  arrange- 
ment, much  work  must  be  done  by  artificial  light.  When 
gas  is  used,  the  air  is  quickly  vitiated,  and  this,  added  to 
the  other  unfortunate  circumstances,  tends  to  jeopardize 
the  health  of  women  in  the  shoe  industry. 

Thus  it  would  appear  that  women  engaged  in  making 
shoes  have  difficulties  unknown  to  the  cotton  worker,  while 
the  latter  is  struggling  along  unmindful  of  this  fact. 

There  remains  still  another  of  the  trio  of  industries  con- 
tributing its  quota  of  hardship  and  support  to  the  New 
England  working  woman,  and  that  is  the  paper  group. 

Paper-making.  —  In  1900  there  were,  according  to  the 
federal  census,  8709  women  at  work  as  paper-  and  pulp- 
mill  operatives.  Approximately  3000  of  these  are  em- 
ployed in  the  twenty-eight  mills  in  the  city  of  Holyoke. 
23 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

The  women's  tasks  are  found  mainly  at  the  first  and  last 
of  the  process  of  paper-making  ;  that  is,  in  the  rag  room, 
and  again  with  the  final  operations  in  the  finishing  room. 
From  all  over  the  country  and  from  Europe,  cotton  rags 
are  brought,  and  the  bales  emptied  for  sorting  by  women 
in  the  rag  rooms.  For  the  highest  grade  of  paper,  the  rags 
are  clean  and  white,  such  as  come  from  shirtwaist  facto- 
ries. But  there  are  also  large  quantities  of  rags  of  every 
description  from  all  possible  sources,  filthy  to  the  last  de- 
gree and  dangerous  to  health.  After  the  sorting  and  re- 
moving of  foreign  matter  by  the  women,  the  rags  are  cut 
and  chopped  by  machines  in  the  same  room.  These  fill 
the  air  with  lint  and  dust,  and  the  women  wear  caps  to 
protect  their  heads,  but  there  is  no  way  of  keeping  the 
dust  from  the  lungs.  In  one  or  two  of  the  newer  mills, 
hoods  and  fans  collect  a  good  deal  of  it,  the  motive  be- 
ing economic  rather  than  sanitary,  for  the  dust  has  con- 
siderable commercial  value. 

Practically  no  young  girls  are  found  in  this  work,  and 
many  of  the  older  women  are  married.  Since  the  cus- 
tom of  giving  this  work  to  married  women  prevails,  in 
some  places,  they  stay  only  seven  and  a  half  hours,  and 
then  go  home  to  their  domestic  duties.  In  spite  of  every 
reason  for  the  contrary,  the  women  appear  to  be  in  fairly 
good  physical  condition  for  their  ages. 

After  the  paper  is  finally  made,  cut,  and  dried,  it  goes 
to  the  finishing  room  for  the  platers  and  calendrers  and 
to  be  ruled  and  counted.  The  plater  girls  have  the  easy, 
though  monotonous,  task  of  feeding  in  sheets  of  paper  to 
the  hot  cylinders  and  taking  them  out  on  the  other  side. 
The  calendrers  place  the  paper  between  boards  covered 
with  cloth,  and  then  put  it  under  high  pressure  to  receive 
the  imprint  of  the  woven  goods.     This  work  is  more  labo- 

24 


WOMEN  WORKERS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

rious,  as  it  requires  a  good  deal  of  lifting.  The  counter  is 
the  most  highly  paid  woman  in  the  paper-mill,  and  though 
her  task  is  not  difficult,  it  calls  for  constant  vigilance.  The 
finishing  processes  are  all  clean  and  well  liked  by  the  girls. 

In  paper-mills,  as  elsewhere,  wages  vary  with  the  process 
and  the  skill  of  the  operative,  and  are  almost  entirely  paid 
by  the  piece,  and  so  it  is  futile  to  estimate  an  average  wage 
for  all.  The  rag  pickers  earn  from  80  cents  to  ^i  a  day ; 
the  platers  and  inspectors  about  the  same  ;  calendrers  from 
;?i.25  to  ^1.40  ;  and  the  counters  ^2.00.  In  the  work  con- 
nected with  making  blank  books,  the  average  weekly  earn- 
ings are  as  follows  :  beginners,  ^3.50  to  $6;  assemblers, 
;g7  to  $S ;  hand  sewers,  $S  to  $g ;  and  machine  sewers, 
^10  to  ^12. 

In  the  large  paper-mills  of  Holyoke,  about  half  of  the 
employees  are  women,  and  mainly  native  Americans, 
French  Canadians,  Irish,  and  Germans.  Most  of  them 
have  homes  of  their  own,  of  one  kind  or  another,  and  one 
does  not  observe  the  abject  need  that  too  often  appears 
in  larger  cities,  but  many  of  them  have  no  opportunity  for 
self-improvement,  or  for  proper  pleasure. 

An  examination  into  the  housing  situation  in  Holyoke 
reveals  most  of  the  known  varieties  of  tenements.  Among 
the  oldest  is  the  type  of  the  square  brick  house,  two  and 
three  and  four  stories  high,  with  slanting  roof,  originally 
erected  by  the  mill  companies  for  their  employees,  a  kind 
well  known  throughout  New  England  manufacturing  towns. 
Holyoke  has  not  very  many  and  they  are  scattered.  They 
are  without  sanitary  conveniences  and  the  rooms  are  poorly 
arranged.  There  are  also  the  cheap  frame  cottages  and 
the  larger  wooden  tenement  houses.  These  are  sometimes 
found  between  two  intersecting  pairs  of  parallel  streets, 
built  in  behind  the  houses  facing  the  streets. 

25 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

Boarding-houses  of  various  kinds  abound  and  all  have 
changed  greatly  from  the  old  days  when  they  were  run  by  the 
companies  and  under  their  regulations.  Of  a  Hst  of  twenty- 
two,  seven  appear  to  be  respectable  and  were  so  beUeved 
to  be  by  the  police  matron,  who,  in  this  case,  knows  the 
situation  intimately.  Four  of  the  same  number  have  dis- 
tinctly unsavory  reputations.  Not  one  was  in  any  degree 
attractive.  Well-conducted  boarding-houses  or  hotels  for 
working  women  without  other  than  the  usual  regulations, 
and  run  on  a  thoroughly  business  basis,  are  greatly  needed 
in  the  city.  The  independence  which  is  the  right  of  the 
self-respecting  woman  who  earns  her  own  living  will  not 
be  given  up  by  the  spirited  mill  girl,  and  any  lack  of 
opportunity  for  its  exercise  would  keep  away  just  the  ones 
who  most  need  the  right  kind  of  home. 

But  it  may  be  safely  said  that  a  very  small  number  of 
the  women  operatives  live  in  boarding-houses.  Most  of 
the  boarding  is  with  private  families ;  and  here  it  is  very 
difficult  to  generalize,  for  conditions  are  so  different. 
Often  by  making  such  an  arrangement,  a  young  girl  se- 
cures a  model  home ;  again  it  is  far  from  what  could  be 
desired.  The  cost  is  rather  uniformly  ^3  or  $;^.so  a 
week. 

The  practice  of  lodging  in  one  place  and  taking  meals 
in  another  is  becoming  very  common.  It  is  the  young 
girls  living  in  this  way  who  are  most  liable  to  meet  temp- 
tations of  various  kinds.  In  some  places  where  girls 
lodge,  they  are  not  allowed  to  have  company  in  their 
rooms,  therefore  they  meet  their  men  friends  on  the 
street,  and  at  less  desirable  places. 

But  this  is  the  dark  side  of  the  picture.  In  pleasing 
contrast  is  the  newer  type  of  tenement,  where  a  higher 
standard  of  living  is  maintained.    In  families  having  three 

26 


WOMEN  WORKERS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

or  four  workers,  frequently  the  mother  being  one,  the 
combmed  income  permits  a  very  comfortable  mode  of 
living.  And  a  comfortable  home  should  be  possible  for 
every  woman  who  works,  but  by  some  strange  turning  of 
Fortune's  wheel,  ordinarily  the  woman  who  works  the 
hardest  has  the  poorest  place  to  live,  while  she  who  does 
nothing  frequently  dwells  in  luxury.  The  women  who 
make  paper  and  shoes  and  cotton  cloth  for  us  are  not 
crying  for  luxuries,  but  the  thinking  ones  do  wish  for  a 
chance  to  provide  themselves  with  decent  comforts,  and 
it  behooves  society  to  help  them  to  the  attainment  of  so 
rational  a  desire. 

In  several  instances,  employers  who  sought  to  improve 
conditions  met  with  little  success.  In  one  case,  a  model 
lunch  room  was  equipped  and  good  fifteen-cent  lunches 
served,  but  it  was  not  well  patronized,  and  in  spite  of 
every  effort  it  won  no  popularity  and  had  to  be  abandoned. 
Likewise,  rest  rooms  were  fitted  up  for  the  girls  and  smok- 
ing rooms  for  the  men,  but  the  furniture  was  abused,  the 
magazines  torn,  and  the  employer  feels  that  the  employees 
were  ungrateful  and  unappreciative,  and  is  honestly  at  a 
loss  to  understand  the  situation.  This  is  the  usual  story 
of  such  efforts. 

Another  employer,  after  meeting  with  a  similar  rebuff, 
states  that  he  believes  the  Almighty  decreed  some  of  us 
to  work  by  brains  and  others  by  muscle,  and  that  the  latter 
class  was  made  without  the  "virtue  of  appreciation." 
Therefore,  he  thinks  it  is  foolish  to  take  the  trouble  to 
improve  conditions.  This  is  undoubtedly  a  pessimistic  view 
of  the  situation,  but  a  view  which  the  employer  who  ex- 
pects gratitude  in  return  for  his  efforts  is  hkely  to  take. 
The  man  who  makes  his  factory  as  decent  and  pleasant  a 
place  as  his  industrial  processes  will  permit,  should  find 
27 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

satisfaction  in  the  effort,  and  in  the  knowledge  that  his 
employees  are  not  injured  by  their  toil. 

In  the  paper-mills,  the  shoe  shops,  and  the  cotton  fac- 
tories of  New  England,  women  are  unduly  fatigued  by  their 
labor,  because  a  little  more  attention  to  the  installation  of 
improvements  is  needed.  Noise,  foul  air,  and  a  lint-laden 
atmosphere  are  doing  their  worst  for  the  girls  who  must 
endure  them,  and  it  is  socially  desirable  that  these  reme- 
diable ills  should  cease,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  the 
women  concerned  might  give  evidence  of  lack  of  apprecia- 
tion of  the  change.  Their  main  interest  centers  on  wages, 
and  anything  contributing  to  a  real  or  fancied  reduction 
of  their  earnings  will  inevitably  be  viewed  with  distrust. 

Many  agencies  are  actively  engaged  in  trying  to  make 
life  brighter  and  better  for  the  New  England  workers, 
but  their  task  is  not  simple.  Lack  of  interest  and  weari- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  toihng  women  prevent  a  rapid 
extension  of  educational  work,  and  the  barrier  of  a  foreign 
tongue  is  sometimes  insurmountable.  Club  and  class  ac- 
tivities frequently  demand  more  intellectual  effort  than  the 
working  women  can  give.  Agencies  offering  exciting 
pleasures  meet  with  more  ready  response.  Cotton-mill 
women  particularly  are  deadened  by  their  work,  and  they 
need  wholesome  recreation  at  night.  Much  that  is  un- 
wholesome is  already  at  hand. 

In  a  canvass  of  1289  women  working  in  in  establish- 
ments in  8  New  England  towns,  it  was  found  that  12  per 
cent  were  making  use  of  opportunities  for  study  which  in- 
cluded various  types  of  instruction,  from  music  and  French 
to  embroidery  and  cooking.  Sixty-one  per  cent  of  the  1289 
women  were  under  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  79  per 
cent  unmarried,  and  60  per  cent  native  Americans. 

The  Americans  generally  avail  themselves  of  opportu- 
28 


WOMEN  WORKERS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

nities  for  self-improvement  to  a  greater  extent  than  the 
foreigners,  with  the  exception  of  the  Jews/  but  their  wages 
are  not  perceptibly  higher  than  those  of  the  illiterate  Euro- 
peans who  have  pushed  their  way  into  the  mills.  It  is  true 
that  the  natives  are  rarely  found  in  the  most  menial  types 
of  work,  such  as  rag  sorting,  but  they  must  compete  with 
the  foreigners  in  practically  all  the  other  processes. 

Twenty-eight  per  cent  of  all  the  women  interviewed 
earned  less  than  ^7  a  week,  with  a  minimum  of  ^2.50 
when  work  was  fairly  regular.  That  an  overwhelming 
majority  of  the  1289,  in  all  102 1,  lived  at  home,  is  true, 
but  of  this  number  92  per  cent  contributed  to  family  sup- 
port, either  by  a  direct  payment  for  board  or  in  other 
ways.  We  found  the  girls  working  for  "  pin  money  "  a 
negligible  factor.  The  women  were  working  from  eco- 
nomic compulsion.  Instances  where  this  is  not  the  case 
are  made  much  of  by  those  who  see  only  lower  profits  in 
any  agitation  to  increase  wages.  No  intelligent  person 
would  undertake  to  support  the  position  that  girls  can 
live  decently  and  comfortably  in  Fall  River,  Lynn,  Hol- 
yoke,  or  Lowell  on  an  average  income  of  $4  or  even  ^5  a 
week.  Subsidized  boarding-houses  may  help  them  to  do 
this,  yet  the  ultimate  effect  of  such  continued  assistance 
must  be  deleterious  to  morals.  Cooperative  undertakings 
on  a  self-supporting  basis  are  not  open  to  this  criticism. 
Working  conditions  can  never  be  called  good  while  wages 
do  not  permit  the  woman  a  self-respecting  existence. 
Every  effort  to  brighten  the  lives  of  women  wage-earners 
should  be  commended,  but  futile  indeed  will  such  efforts 
be  if  they  disregard  the  urgent  need  for  a  living  wage, 
without  which  women  cannot  rise. 

Long  hours   and   unsanitary   workshops  can   be,  and 

1  Of  the  1289  cases,  only  2  per  cent  were  Jews. 
29 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

sometimes  are,  prohibited  by  law,  but  the  all-important 
question  of  wages  must  be  left  to  other  forces.  The  mill 
women,  themselves,,  in  some  instances,  are  banding  to- 
gether in  organizations  for  this  purpose,  and  they  should 
be  aided  in  their,  struggle.  Their  somewhat  militant 
methods  may  be  subject  to  censure,  but  the  principle 
involved  is  sound.  The  days  of  Lucy  Larcom  and  the 
spindle  poets  are  gone,  but  a  new  day  of  shorter  hours 
and  higher  wages  will  dawn,  when  all  the  betterment 
forces  in  New  England  will  realize  that  women's  lives  are 
more  valuable  than  paper,  and  shoes,  and  cotton  cloth, 
and  will  combine  not  only  to  make  the  laborer  worthy  of 
her  hire,  but  to  see  to  it  that  the  hire  is  adequate  to  the 
needs  of  modern  life. 


30 


CHAPTER   III 
The  New  York  Worker 

A  FIELD  of  unusual  interest,  so  far  as  the  employment  of 
women  is  concerned,  is  presented  by  New  York.  Here 
we  find  the  highest  prizes  in  the  industrial  world ;  here 
the  most  abject  misery  that  can  be  evolved  from  a  system 
of  virtual  wage  slavery.  It  is  here  that  we  see  the  former 
cash  girl  earning  ^6000  a  year  as  foreign  buyer  for  her 
firm.  It  is  here  that  behind  still  other  counters,  girls  are 
receiving  ;?2.5o  or  ^3  a  week  and  growing  weary  of  the 
futile  effort  to  be  respectable.  In  this  big  city,  a  fore- 
woman in  a  clothing  factory  may  earn  enough  to  support 
a  family  in  comfort,  and  in  the  same  great  metropolis  her 
sister  worker  makes  but  two  cents  and  a  half  an  hour, 
hemming  by  hand  a  little  garment  for  a  baby.  Nation- 
ality presses  on  nationality ;  physical  strength  presses  on 
weakness ;  while  efficiency  constantly  pushes  against  in- 
efficiency, and  through  it  all  the  average  girl  who  works 
for  a  living  fights  hard  and  often  in  a  losing  contest. 

Many  studies  have  already  been  made  of  phases  of  the 
life  of  wage-earning  women  in  New  York.  Many  more 
might  still  be  made  without  exhausting  the  subject  or  ex- 
hausting the  interest  of  thinking  people.  The  girl  who 
works  is  everywhere  announcing  herself  by  her  presence 
and  demanding  by  her  very  helplessness  that  people  stop 
to  consider  her.  New  York  City  furnishes  nearly  400,000 
of  the  upwards  of  5,000,000  self-supporting  women  in  the 
entire  country,  and  these  are  in  practically  all  the  great 
31 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

industries  represented  in  the  city.  As  manufacturing 
processes  become  more  and  more  specialized,  woman  ex- 
tends her  industrial  boundaries,  and  the  first  city  in  the 
country  offers  constant  opportunity  for  this  extension. 

This  chapter  deals  with  the  working  conditions  of 
27,000  women  in  91  establishments  in  7  distinct  in- 
dustries, and  gives  a  detailed  study  of  1476  of  these 
women  representing  the  different  occupations.  It  is  the 
purpose  here  to  present  a  view  of  the  average  girl  as  she 
toils  in  factory  or  shop  all  over  this  great  city.  Others 
are  presenting  studies  of  special  industries,  so  we  shall 
simply  give  a  quick  survey  of  a  large  field  in  the  hope 
that  even  a  glimpse  of  the  industrial  life  will  stimulate  a 
wider  interest  in  the  worker. 

Clothing.  —  The  view  may  well  begin  with  the  clothing 
trade,  which  interests  and  concerns  us  all.  Moreover,  the 
centering  of  the  trade  in  New  York  City  makes  a  con- 
sideration of  the  conditions  in  this  work  of  especial  signifi- 
cance. The  city  now  controls  the  clothing  trade  of  the 
entire  country,  and  utilizes  in  its  manufacture  the  services 
of  1 20,000  people,  of  whom  70,000  are  women.  Very  un- 
fortunate conditions  accompany  most  phases  of  the  trade, 
inasmuch  as  it  readily  lends  itself  to  home  work,  with  its 
long  hours,  low  wages,  and  danger  from  disease.  We 
made  no  effort  to  study  the  thousands  of  such  *^  finishers/' 
but  confined  ourselves  to  the  factory  operatives.  Many 
of  the  workers  are  foreigners  and  live  in  the  densely 
crowded  quarters.  A  large  proportion  are  Jewish,  which 
is  not  surprising,  inasmuch  as  the  Jews  control  the  manu- 
facture of  clothing  in  New  York  City. 

Women  were  found  operating  power  machines,  pressing 
with  heavy  irons,  examining  the  finished  product  for  flaws, 
and  designing ;  in  some  shops,  doing  everything,  in  fact, 

32 


THE   NEW  YORK  WORKER 

but  cutting,  which  is  men's  work,  while  in  others,  they 
were  employed  only  for  basting  in  linings,  putting  on  but- 
tons, and  the  like.  In  the  making  of  women's  garments, 
there  is  more  variety  and  more  opportunity  for  specializa- 
tion than  in  men's  clothes.  For  example,  tucking  alone 
keeps  scores  and  scores  of  girls  busy  all  day.  The  sewing 
on  of  fine  laces  requires  considerable  skill,  as  it  must  be 
done  without  basting.  In  spite  of  much  subdivision,  it 
would  be  an  easy  matter  for  any  bright,  ambitious  girl  to 
learn  all  phases  of  the  work  so  that  she  could  be  shifted 
from  one  kind  to  another  with  the  need,  and  thus  be  able 
to  avoid  idleness  with  its  consequent  limitation  of  income. 
Most  of  the  workers,  however,  do  not  care  to  acquire 
this  general  skill,  being  satisfied,  apparently,  to  learn 
their  special  tasks.  An  example  of  the  extent  to  which 
subdivision  of  work  is  carried  may  be  seen  in  the  making 
of  a  plain  cotton  wrapper,  on  which  nine  hands  besides  the 
cutter  are  employed.  More  elaborate  garments  call  for 
a  proportionately  greater  subdivision. 

Many  of  the  factories  visited  occupy  lofts  in  high  build- 
ings, and  thus  have  light  and  air ;  others  occupy  floors 
in  one  or  several  connecting  buildings,  frequently  poorly 
adapted  to  the  comfort  or  convenience  of  the  worker. 
In  the  majority  of  cases,  the  dressing  and  toilet  accom- 
modations were  extremely  poor,  and  in  some  instances 
a  menace  to  health.  Many  of  the  girls  worked  amidst 
the  direst  confusion,  material  in  all  stages  of  completion 
being  heaped  up  everywhere.  Several  managers  main- 
tained that  the  girls  were  so  untidy  that  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  have  an  orderly  shop,  while  others  said  the  type 
of  work  necessitated  disorder. 

Employees  in  the  trade  are  paid  almost  entirely  by 
the  piece,  although  some  shops  have  a  few  week  work- 
i>  33 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

ers  in  certain  processes.  When  a  weekly  wage  is  paid 
to  beginners  it  seems  to  be  uniformly  about  $;^.  The 
wages  naturally  depend  somewhat  upon  the  season  but 
much  more  upon  the  worker's  skill  and  swiftness.  In 
one  establishment  employing  forty  girls  there  were  found 
some  who  practically  never  made  less  than  ^ii  a  week, 
while  the  others  average  between  $4  and  $7.  There  is 
thus  great  variation  in  the  weekly  earnings  with  conse- 
quent heartburnings  and  discouragements.  The  girl  who 
works  hard  sewing  on  buttons,  and  on  Saturday  gets  only 
$4,  cannot  regard  with  equanimity  her  friend  who  stitches 
seams  and  earns  two  or  three  times  that  sum.  The  argu- 
ment that  the  latter  is  worth  more  to  her  employer 
makes  no  strong  appeal,  and  she  frequently  grows  sulky 
and  chews  her  gum  the  harder  while  brooding  over  her 
wrongs.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  girls  are  a  merry 
lot.     They  are  young,  and  youth  is  ever  hopeful. 

In  the  majority  of  cases,  the  wages  quoted  by  the 
manager  were  somewhat  higher  than  those  vouched  for 
by  the  employees.  This  does  not  necessarily  mean  that 
the  employer  wilfully  misrepresented  the  case,  but  he 
undoubtedly  gave  the  sum  that  it  was  possible  for  a  girl 
to  earn  in  her  own  particular  line,  provided  the  supply  of 
work  was  constant.  The  actual  earnings  would  fall  far 
below  this.  Irritating  delays  are  liable  to  occur,  and  the 
girl  and  her  machine  will  be  idle  while  the  opportunity  to 
earn  precious  pennies  disappears  with  the  minutes. 

An  ever  present  source  of  complaint  in  many  places  is 
the  time-honored  custom  of  requiring  each  machine 
operator  to  pay  for  the  thread  she  uses.  She  is  obhged 
to  purchase  it  from  her  employer,  and  often  at  a 
higher  rate  than  she  could  secure  it  elsewhere.  The 
necessity  for  having  uniform  quality  does  not  seem  to  the 

34 


THE   NEW  YORK  WORKER 

girl  sufficient  ground  for  such  a  regulation,  and,  more- 
over, she  cannot  understand  why  she  should  pay  for  the 
thread  used  to  sew  the  employer's  goods  which  are  sold 
by  him,  thread  and  all.  Sometimes  she  strikes,  because 
it  seems  so  inexphcable,  but  she  usually  goes  on  paying 
for  the  thread.  Older  heads  than  hers  have  puzzled  over 
this  and  have  refused  to  be  satisfied  with  the  proffered 
explanation  that  it  is  necessary  in  order  to  prevent  reck- 
less waste.  It  seems  a  good  deal  Hke  compelling  the 
cook  to  furnish  the  salt. 

In  one  factory,  where  300  women  worked  away  and 
complained  constantly  about  the  thread  injustice,  there 
was  a  lunch  room  where  good  food  was  supplied  by  the 
firm  at  cost,  and  a  pianola  stood  ready  to  give  forth  music 
while  the  meal  was  in  progress.  The  employees  regarded 
these  evidences  of  good  intentions  on  the  part  of  their 
employers  with  ill-concealed  suspicion.  The  pianola 
particularly  offended  them.  They  insisted  it  was  bought 
with  their  thread  money,  and  they  reckoned  to  a  nicety 
the  proportion  from  each  one  that  went  into  it.  The 
thread  deduction  frequently  amounts  to  more  than  a 
dollar  a  week.  The  employers,  in  turn,  were  exasperated 
by  the  girls'  unappreciative  attitude,  and  finally  abandoned 
the  undertaking. 

In  some  factories,  the  girls  talked  as  freely  as  they 
could  above  the  noise  of  the  machines,  but,  on  the  whole, 
work  was  too  serious  to  be  coupled  with  much  conversa- 
tion. Speed  was  the  watchword,  and  to  it  each  one 
hearkened,  for  speed  means  money;  speed  means  pre- 
ferment ;  and  it  may  mean  permanent  work.  That  it 
may  also  become  synonymous  with  nervous  wreckage, 
premature  age,  and  even  death,  is  not  considered  in  the 
mad  race  to  turn  out  the  finished  product.  This  high 
35 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

rate  of  speed,  continued  throughout  a  day  of  nine  and  a 
half  or  ten  hours  in  length,  leaves  its  impression  on  even 
the  most  robust  worker.  There  was  little  or  no  overtime 
required  at  the  season  in  which  this  investigation  was 
made,  although  it  is  an  important  item  in  the  day's  weari- 
ness at  certain  times  of  the  year.  The  rush  seasons  in 
the  clothing  trade  call  for  work  at  very  high  tension  for 
unduly  long  periods.  Then,  the  garment  shops  are  the 
scene  of  incessant  activity,  and  girls  may  be  seen  rushing 
to  work  early  in  the  morning,  pale  and  jaded  from  the 
former  day's  toil,  yet  glad  that  there  is  work  to  do.  At 
night,  almost  numb  from  exertion,  they  look  dully  around 
for  some  reUef  for  tired  nerves,  and  too  often  find  it  in 
the  glare  of  the  street.  But  not  all  the  tragic  story  of 
industry  is  found  among  the  clothing  makers.  Others 
contribute  their  share. 

It  is  but  a  step  from  making  clothing  to  the  making  of 
cloth  and  allied  textile  processes,  so  we  may  proceed  to  a 
consideration  of  the  latter,  and  learn  from  the  factories 
visited  and  the  women  interviewed,  something  of  what 
work  means  to  them. 

Curtains,  Ribbons,  and  Twine.  —  We  followed  2000 
women  through  twelve  factories  engaged  in  making  things 
as  widely  remote  as  lace  curtains  and  twine,  and  the 
working  lives  of  these  women  may  be  best  understood  by 
giving  ghmpses  of  typical  factories.  For  curtains,  let  us 
take  two. 

The  first  occupies  the  third  floor  of  a  rather  small 
building  and  the  workers  seem  crowded  together.  The 
hand  sewers  sit  in  close  rows  about  four  deep,  facing 
the  fight.  There  are  only  a  few  machines.  Most  of  the 
women  can  sit  at  their  work,  but  the  pinners  and  press- 
ers  have  to  stand.     There  are  no  dressing  rooms,  and 

36 


THE   NEW  YORK  WORKER 

the  employees'  garments  hang  on  the  walls  of  the  work- 
room. Toilets  are  provided,  but  no  lunch  room.  The  girls 
eat  in  the  same  spot  where  they  work,  and  it  is  a  wonder 
that  everything  is  not  ruined.  The  work  done  here  is 
beautiful,  —  all  kinds  of  fine  lace  curtains  are  made,  — 
but  the  place  is  very  untidy. 

There  are  about  seventy-five  girls  employed,  and  most 
of  them  are  young,  although  there  are  a  few  older  Italian 
women.  There  are  some  Americans,  but  they  are  being 
replaced  rapidly  by  Italians.  The  girls  do  not  seem  to 
be  as  intelligent  as  one  might  expect  in  such  light,  clean 
work.  Doubtless,  the  lack  of  conveniences,  and  general 
air  of  disorder,  account  for  this. 

All  the  work  is  done  by  women.  The  curtains  are 
designed  by  the  superintendent,  then  cut,  pinned,  sewed, 
and  pressed.  Most  of  the  sewing,  which  is  appliqu^ing 
lace  to  net,  is  done  by  hand  and  is  somewhat  of  a  strain 
on  the  eyes.  It  is  clean  work  and  should  be  attractive, 
but  the  hours  are  long,  from  eight  to  six,  with  only  a  half- 
hour  at  noon.  A  fine  is  imposed  for  tardiness,  and  this  is  a 
constant  source  of  annoyance.  There  is  seldom  overtime 
required  in  the  shop,  but  the  girls  frequently  take  work 
home  to  finish.  In  this  way  they  are  deprived  of  sleep 
and  find  it  a  hardship  to  reach  the  factory  at  eight. 

The  best  workers  here  are  able  to  earn  from  ^7  to  ^9  a 
week  by  stretching  out  the  day  with  home  finishing  of 
such  parts  as  can  be  easily  carried. 

The  employees  were  unanimous  in  their  condemnation 
of  the  management,  and  a  very  hostile  spirit  prevailed. 
"Ungrateful,"  the  superintendent,  a  woman  herself,  called 
them. 

The  second  factory  occupies  one  floor  of  a  large 
building,  well  supplied  with  natural  light  and  fresh  air. 
37 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

The  place  is  clean  and  orderly  and  not  unusually  noisy. 
The  conveniences  are  not  modern,  but  seem  ade- 
quate. The  cloak  and  retiring  room  is  simply  a  corner 
screened  off  by  packing  cases,  but  it  is  private.  There  is  no 
lunch  room,  but  the  girls  make  tea  on  a  gas  stove,  cover  the 
large  work-tables  with  papers,  and  sit  around  them  and 
eat  in  great  sociabiHty.  They  have  three-quarters  of  an 
hour  at  noon,  and  work  eight  hours.  There  is  no  over- 
time at  the  factory,  but  special  tasks  are  finished  at 
home.  The  wages  are  no  higher  than  those  in  the  first 
establishment,  but  a  totally  different  spirit  prevails.  The 
fifty  women  employed  say  the  work  is  pleasant  and  the 
management  most  considerate.  A  week's  vacation  with 
pay  is  the  reward  of  a  year's  service. 

The  kind  of  work  carried  on  in  the  two  factories  does 
not  necessitate  nerve-destroying  speed  at  high-power  ma- 
chines, and  is  undoubtedly  more  desirable  than  labor  in 
a  waist  factory. 

Quite  different  in  character  is  a  twine  factory  employ- 
ing 400  women,  which  may  be  taken  as  a  type.  Here 
most  of  the  women  employed  are  forlorn  and  middle- 
aged,  or  young  foreign  girls,  poor  and  without  ambition. 
The  latter  are  full  of  animal  spirits,  boisterous  and  rather 
unruly. 

The  women  are  engaged  in  a  variety  of  processes, 
yielding  varied  earnings.  The  work  of  the  young  girls  is 
doffing ;  that  is,  collecting  the  empty  spools  and  replac- 
ing them  with  full  ones,  gathered  from  the  machines  in 
large  boxes  on  rollers.  This  requires  activity  rather  than 
skill.  The  pay  averages  about  $4  a  week.  Balling  the 
twine  for  the  market  is  easier  and  pleasanter  than 
doffing,  and  the  rate  is  somewhat  higher.  Twisting  and 
winding  are  also  rather  clean  processes,  and  pay  about 

38 


THE   NEW  YORK   WORKER 

the  same  as  balling,  that  is,  from  ^6  to  ^7  a  week.  Twist- 
ing consists  in  combining  fibers  into  heavier  strands  by 
means  of  a  frame.  The  twister  must  be  always  alert, 
walking  from  one  end  of  her  frame  to  the  other,  or 
broken  threads  will  escape  her  attention,  and  the  work 
will  be  injured.  Winding  the  individual  fibers  on  spools 
ready  for  the  twister  also  requires  watchfulness.  The 
most  disagreeable  work  is  roving,  which  consists  in  hec- 
kHng  the  raw  flax  just  from  the  bales  and  full  of  dirt. 
Spinning  produces  some  dust,  but  not  so  much  as  is 
found  in  the  roving  rooms.  There  it  is  indescribable, 
although  the  women  say  that  they  finally  become  so  ac- 
customed to  it  that  it  does  not  cause  coughing  spells,  as 
at  first.  Such  work  seems  to  have  its  effect  on  the  per- 
sonal appearance  and  even  modesty  of  the  women.  The 
older,  and  more  abbreviated,  and  ragged,  the  garment, 
the  more  suitable  it  is,  they  think,  for  such  surroundings. 

This  particular  factory  is  not  so  dirty  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, for  sweepers  are  continually  at  work,  but  they,  in 
turn,  scatter  dust  freely  through  the  air  and  on  the  ma- 
chinery frames  and  windows.  It  would  seem  that  devices 
might  be  introduced  for  cleansing  purposes  which  would 
obviate  some  of  these  difficulties. 

The  nature  of  this  occupation  makes  the  employer 
dependent  upon  the  most  illiterate  foreigner  for  service, 
as  the  better  type  of  worker  naturally  seeks  more  desirable 
employment. 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  place  described  is  a  ribbon 
factory  where  250  women  work.  Many  of  them  have 
been  with  the  firm  for  years,  and  were  in  its  employ 
when  the  factory  was  in  the  downtown  district.  They 
are  neat  in  dress  and  ladylike  in  conduct,  and  perform 
their  varied  tasks  with  interest. 
39 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

The  last  process  in  preparing  ribbons  for  the  market  is 
called  blocking,  and  requires  many  women.  It  consists  in 
winding  the  ribbon  from  the  heaped-up  mass  to  a  firm 
position  on  a  block  or  frame. 

Girls  are  also  in  the  winding  department,  where  quills 
and  bobbins  are  filled  with  the  spun  and  twisted  threads, 
already  dyed,  ready  for  the  warp  and  woof.  Quill  wind- 
ing is  the  preparing  of  thread  for  the  warp,  and  simple 
winding  for  the  woof.  The  girls  are  kept  busy  joining 
broken  threads,  removing  bobbins  already  filled,  putting 
empty  bobbins  on  the  revolving  axes  of  the  machinery 
and  attaching  the  thread  thereto.  Blockers  get  poor  pay, 
as  a  rule  ;  skilful  winders,  the  best,  with  the  exception 
of  the  weavers.  The  average  for  the  former  is  54.50,  and 
the  latter  Sio  a  week.  Men  are  employed  as  warpers  and 
spinners  in  this  estabhshment. 

The  factor}'  is  clean  and  orderly ;  good  drinking  water 
is  supplied  ;  signs  are  posted  in  regard  to  exit  in  case  of 
fire  ;  the  rooms  are  very  light  and  airy,  and  not  over- 
crowded ;  lockers  are  provided  for  wraps  ;  and  the  toilet 
rooms  are  clean  and  spacious.  The  employers  seem  most 
considerate,  and  a  good  spirit  prevails  in  the  estabhsh- 
ment. Yet  it  is  no  easy  task  the  women  are  called  upon 
to  perform.  They  simply  respond  to  fair,  honorable  treat- 
ment, and  are  willing  to  cooperate  with  their  employers 
in  turning  out  a  good  article  under  good  conditions. 

We  have  had  glimpses  of  women  as  they  toiled  in  fac- 
tories large  and  small,  factories  good  and  bad,  and  as 
they  pass  from  \'iew,  we  see  the  hundreds  of  women  look- 
ing to  us  for  help.  They  want  better  wages  in  all  cases, 
fairer  treatment  in  some,  and  they  need,  in  addition, 
shorter  hours  and  better  surroundings. 

One  other  class  of  workers,  that  which  is  concerned 
40 


THE   NEW  YORK  WORKER 

with  paper  goods  and  printing,  will  serve  to  illustrate  ac- 
tivities different  in  character  from  those  which  have  been 
described,  and  from  this  class  we  have  taken  the  making 
of  boxes,  patterns,  novelties  of  various  kinds,  and  print- 
ing. 

Paper  Goods.  —  The  making  of  paper  boxes  does  not 
appear  to  rank  very  high,  in  the  minds  of  working  girls, 
as  an  occupation.  Those  in  other  paper  trades,  in  bind- 
eries, for  example,  assert  that  box  making  attracts  an 
extremely  illiterate  type  of  worker.  There  seems  to  be 
some  truth  in  the  assertion,  if  boisterousness  and  slat- 
ternliness constitute  an  element  of  this  type.  Several 
employers  deplored  the  fact  that  many  clever  girls,  who 
could  make  considerable  money  in  box  factories,  go  to 
the  telephone  companies  for  lower  wages,  because  of  the 
higher  social  standing  of  the  telephone  girl.  It  is  true 
that  many  immigrants  are  in  the  box  trade,  and  in  the 
same  establishment  may  be  found  Italians,  Jews,  Irish, 
Poles,  Bohemians,  and  Germans,  —  all  maintaining  that 
they  hate  the  trade.  Box  factories  abound  in  or  near 
tenement-house  districts,  where  they  have  a  constant  sup- 
ply of  workers  always  at  hand.  Some  of  these  factories 
are  clean,  light,  and  airy,  and  provide  separate  toilets, 
dressing  rooms  and  seats,  while  others  lack  all  of  these 
highly  desirable  things.  The  work  generally  done  by 
women  includes  paste  work  of  all  kinds,  stripping,  label- 
ing, finishing,  and  *^  setting  up."  Pasting  is  not  hard, 
but  extremely  monotonous,  as  it  consists  in  machine  feed- 
ing largely.  Stripping  or  feeding  the  cut  and  bent  boxes 
into  a  machine  which  fastens  the  sides  together  with  pa- 
per strips,  and  requires  some  skill  and  swiftness  to  hold 
the  board  in  place,  seems  to  be  a  rather  difficult  process. 
The  turning-in  of  the  edges  is  done  by  hand  by  very 
41 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

young  girls.  "Setting  up*'  the  box  is  accomplished  by 
a  somewhat  dangerous  machine  process.  When  one  girl 
was  asked  if  she  ever  injured  her  fingers,  her  reply  was 
that  she  would  not  rank  as  an  experienced  "  setter-up  " 
if  she  had  not  crushed  them  at  some  time  or  other.  Her 
maimed  hands  testified  to  the  truth  of  this  story. 

The  hours  quite  generally  observed  were  from  eight  to 
half  past  five  or  six,  with  a  half-hour  for  lunch.  Several 
establishments  observed  a  Saturday  half-holiday  during  the 
summer,  and  one  closed  for  the  entire  day.  Overtime  is 
usual,  and  is  paid  for.  Vacations,  if  given  at  all,  are  in 
every  case  without  pay. 

Wages  are  found  to  range  from  $4  to  ^20  a  week,  the 
latter  sum  being  earned  by  several  women  who  were 
"strippers,"  and  put  in  a  great  amount  of  overtime. 
There  are  rush  and  slack  seasons  in  this  trade  to  influence 
the  earnings,  but  some  factories  have  a  constant  demand 
from  certain  large  firms,  and  it  is  always  safe  to  keep 
such  boxes  as  they  require  in  stock.  There  seems  to  be 
less  slack  time  here  than  in  some  so-called  "  higher 
class  "  trades. 

It  was  observed  that  the  girls  were  obliged  to  carry 
heavy  piles  of  box  boards  some  distance,  even  upstairs  to 
their  own  work-tables.  It  would  appear  that  this  might 
be  avoided  by  the  use  of  trundling  trucks  and  elevators. 
The  odor  of  sour  paste,  so  often  found,  is  extremely  dis- 
agreeable, and  keeps  some  girls  in  a  state  of  nausea  which 
must  ultimately  affect  the  health. 

The  other  types  of  work  in  the  group  under  discussion 
include  publishing  houses  and  pattern  and  novelty  con- 
cerns, which  may  be  best  presented  by  describing  typi- 
cal cases  in  each.  To  represent  the  first  class,  two  es- 
tabUshments  may  be  taken,  the  one  representing  religious, 
42 


THE   NEW  YORK  WORKER 

the  other  secular,  publications.  In  the  first,  only  work 
of  a  religious  character  is  done,  —  the  issuing  of  Bibles, 
denominational  publications,  quarterlies,  and  books  of  a 
high  moral  tone.  Every  modern  convenience  is  used, 
but  the  machines  are  very  close  together  in  some  of  the 
rooms,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  make  one's  way  through  the 
aisles.  There  is  an  elevator  especially  for  the  employees, 
and  toilets  and  dressing  rooms  are  provided. 

There  are  nearly  a  hundred  girls  here  of  varying  de- 
grees of  intelligence  and  social  rank.  The  women  do 
the  usual  bindery  work,  proof-reading,  linotyping,  and 
a  few  run  hand-presses,  which  implies  standing  all  day. 
The  linotypers  and  proof-readers  have  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  the  bindery  girls,  making  sharp  discrimina- 
tions wherever  possible. 

This  is  not  a  union  shop,  yet  an  eight-hour  day,  and 
half  a  day  on  Saturday  in  summer  for  all,  is  the  rule, 
and  a  full  hour  is  allowed  for  lunch.  It  compares  very 
well  with  the  other  places  visited.  Printing  religious 
matter  is  not  different  from  printing  anything  else,  and 
the  conditions  under  which  Bibles  are  made  are  simi- 
lar to  those  found  in  the  printing  and  publishing  of  patent 
medicine  advertisements. 

The  second  estabHshment  prints  books  and  magazines 
on  contract,  and  is  thoroughly  modern  in  its  machinery. 
There  are  no  lunch  or  rest  rooms  for  the  women,  but 
large  tea  and  coffee  urns  are  provided  in  the  bindery, 
and  one  of  the  women  is  paid  by  the  others  to  make  hot 
tea  and  coffee  at  noon.  They  eat  in  the  workroom,  and 
so  lack  the  stimulus  of  a  change  for  even  half  an  hour. 

In  the  bindery,  the  girls  do  all  the  gathering,  both  by 
hand  and  machine,  the  folding,  pasting,  stitching,  and 
sewing.  Much  of  this  is  purely  routine  work,  but  some 
43 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

of  it,  as  hand  gathering,  is  fatiguing,  since  it  requires  con- 
stant walking  or  standing.  On  the  whole,  the  processes 
are  clean,  with  the  exception  of  pasting. 

A  nine-hour  day  prevails  for  the  bindery  women,  but 
in  the  summer  it  is  lengthened  to  nine  and  a  half,  five 
days  in  the  week,  to  make  up  for  the  Saturday  half-holi- 
day. The  proof-readers  and  linotypers  have  an  eight- 
hour  day. 

Wages  conform  fairly  well  to  the  union  scale.  Lino- 
typers and  proof-readers  earn  from  ^21  to  ^23  a  week. 

An  establishment  representing  the  making  of  paper 
novelties,  such  as  pictures,  frames,  and  postal  cards,  has 
good  physical  conditions,  but  the  women  are  young, 
poorly  paid,  and  seem  tired  and  hopeless.  One  girl  who 
sorts  postal  cards  all  day  was  asked  why  she  did  not  seek 
other  employment  when  this  appeared  so  distasteful,  and 
her  reply  was,  "  This  is  all  I  can  do,  —  nobody  else  wants 
me.'^ 

These  girls  crave  amusement,  but  seem  to  be  resource- 
less  in  the  matter  of  finding  diversions  when  work  is  over, 
and  they  are  not  in  touch  with  the  many  organizations  in 
the  city  which  are  trying  to  reach  working  girls.  Their 
tasks  are  mainly  pasting  and  sorting,  both  of  which  are 
extremely  monotonous  when  pursued  from  half-past  seven 
in  the  morning  to  six  at  night.  They  have  a  Saturday 
half-holiday  in  summer  for  which  their  pay  is  docked,  a 
loss  they  can  ill  afford.  Very  few  are  able  to  earn  more 
than  $5  a  week. 

These  illustrations  will  suffice  to  show  what  factory 
work  means  to  girls  in  New  York  City.  Whether  in 
making  clothing,  curtains,  twine  or  boxes,  or  in  printing 
Bibles  or  sorting  postal  cards,  there  is  evident  an  intensity 
of  work  that  saps  the  nervous  force.     Girls  are  rushing 

44 


THE    NEW  YORK  WORKER 

all  day  long.  One  sees  them  on  the  way  to  work  in  the 
early  morning,  hurrying  on  at  full  speed,  and  at  night 
they  are  still  nervously  rushing,  only  looking  more  hag- 
gard than  when  the  day's  work  began.  But  in  spite  of 
this  weariness,  many  seek  the  stimulus  of  exciting  pleasures 
and  thus  feel  that  they  are  getting  something  out  of  life. 

New  York  has  a  multiplicity  of  organizations  and  in- 
stitutions maintaining  activities  designed  to  benefit  the 
girls  who  go  forth  to  factory  and  shop,  but,  in  spite  of 
this,  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  these  young  women  have 
never  heard  that  there  are  any  places  but  questionable 
dance  halls  and  the  streets  where  they  can  go  at  night 
for  rest  as  well  as  recreation.  Many  complain  bitterly 
about  starvation  wages,  who  have  never  heard  that  women 
in  some  trades,  perhaps  even  in  their  own,  are  banding 
themselves  together  in  an  attempt  to  accomplish  collec- 
tively what  they  can  never  accomplish  individually.  Many 
know  nothing  of  such  things,  but  many  more  care  nothing. 
The  obhgation  of  society  toward  them  is  not  lessened, 
however,  because  of  their  ignorance  or  dull  despair.  Ef- 
fort must  be  redoubled,  not  relaxed. 

The  investigation  reveals  the  following  facts  in  regard 
to  betterment  undertakings  designed  especially  for  young, 
wage-earning  women  in  New  York  City.  A  fuller  de- 
scription of  the  type  of  assistance  provided  is  reserved  for 
a  later  chapter  where  the  chief  movements  in  behalf  of 
industrial  groups  are  discussed. 

Settlement  Activities. — The  41  settlements^  of  which 
a  study  was  made  represent  160  clubs  for  girls,  with  a 
total  membership  of  2058  for  ^;^  settlements,  the  other  8 

1  The  institutions  included  are  those  so  denominated  by  the  person 
in  charge.  The  activities  specified  are  only  those  for  girls  over  four- 
teen. 

45 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

settlements  giving  no  total  membership  of  their  clubs. 
Twenty-seven  of  the  41  settlements  conduct  classes  for 
girls,  with  an  enrolment  of  289  for  11  settlements,  the 
other  16  settlements  not  reporting  the  total  class  mem- 
bership. Twenty-seven  of  the  41  settlements  send  girls 
to  summer  vacation  houses  or  camps  or  find  boarding 
places  for  them  in  the  country. 

Trades  Unions.  —  There  are  34  unions^  in  New  York 
which  admit  women  to  membership.  Thirty-two  of  these 
unions  have  a  membership  of  S989. 

Homes  for  working  Women.  —  There  are  in  the  city  30 
special  boarding  homes  providing  accommodations  for  1650 
women.  These  are  designed  to  meet  the  needs  of  poorly 
paid  girls  and  the  rates  are  consequently  low. 

Welfare  Work.  —  New  York  has  20  establishments  where 
welfare  work  for  women  employees  is  carried  on.  Some 
of  the  employers  report  only  the  provision  of  a  lunch 
room  for  women,  while  others  furnish  rest  and  amusement 
rooms  and  conduct  clubs  and  classes  for  both  social  and 
educational  purposes,  and  maintain  summer  homes  in  the 
country  where  girls  may  spend  from  one  to  two  weeks  at 
a  very  moderate  price.  All  of  this  seems  to  be,  in  most 
cases,  an  entirely  honest  effort  on  the  part  of  the  employer 
to  make  his  wage-earners  happier  and  more  efficient. 
Where  wages  do  not  suffer  by  expenditure  in  such  direc- 
tions, it  would  seem  that  the  efforts  should  not  be  subject 
to  criticism. 

Clubs.  —  The  Association  of  Working  Girls'  Clubs  has 
20  organizations  here  with  a  membership  of  1093. 

The  above  shows  the  extent  of  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant betterment  movements.     All  of  this,  of  course, 

1  Since  this  book  went  to  press,  unionism  received  a  great  impetus 
through  the  shirt-waist  makers'  strike. 

46 


THE   NEW  YORK  WORKER 

seems  small  when  compared  with  the  upwards  of  half  a 
million  women  employed,  and  affords  ample  ground  for 
the  belief  that  much  more  might  be  legitimately  accom- 
plished either  in  connection  with  existing  organizations  or 
by  somebody  not  already  in  the  field. 

The  accompanying  charts  are  introduced  to  render 
more  graphic  the  detailed  study  of  1476  individual  cases 
selected  from  seven  leading  industries. 

Charts  I  and  II  show  the  results  of  an  inquiry  into  the 
nativity,  urban  or  rural,  of  the  workers  grouped  by  na- 
tionality, with  the  general  reason  for  coming  to  the  city 
if  the  girl  was  of  rural  origin.  But  whatever  this  reason 
may  have  been,  it  was  extremely  rare  to  find  any  one 
expressing  a  desire  to  leave  the  not  unmixed  joys  of  city 
life  for  the  quiet  and  calm  of  the  country,  assuming  that 
some  kind  of  a  living  could  be  made  in  either  place. 

Chart  III  tells  the  story  of  working  conditions  in  the 
factories,  classified  under  three  heads.  Wages  and  hours 
of  labor  are  not  considered,  the  aim  being  to  estimate 
physical  conditions  alone. 

Chart  IV  presents  the  situation  so  far  as  1476  young 
women,  arranged  by  nationality,  are  concerned,  in  regard 
to  favorite  amusements.  This  should  stimulate  interest 
in  those ^  who  are  trying  to  provide  decent  amusements 
for  wage-earning  girls. 

Chart  V  tells  the  tale  of  opportunities  for  social  life  of 
the  simplest  character.  Over  60  per  cent  said  they  could 
receive  visitors  at  home,  but  in  too  many  instances  it  was 
difficult  to  see  where  the  girl  could  entertain  even  one. 
Others  again,  a  small  number,  belonged  to  a  club,  a  set- 

1  Since  this  study  was  made,  valuable  work  has  been  done  by  the 
Committee  on  Amusements  and  Vacation  Resources  of  Working  Girls, 
Mrs.  Charles  Henry  Israels,  Chairman. 

47 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

tlement  or  a  church,  where  they  could  meet  friends. 
About  35  per  cent  sorrowfully  said  the  only  place  they 
could  meet  men  acquaintances  was  on  the  street  or  in 
more  questionable  places.  There  is  a  suggestion  here 
for  people  anxious  to  aid  the  working  girl. 

Chart  VI  consists  of  general  statistics.  The  rather 
large  number  attending  church  is  explained  by  a  prepon- 
derance of  Cathohcs.  Nearly  45  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  interviewed  belonged  to  that  church.  The  study- 
ing specified  includes  work  along  both  industrial  and  in- 
tellectual lines,  4  per  cent  doing  the  former.  It  is  a 
pleasing  indication  to  find  so  many  girls  eager  to  improve 
themselves,  and  this  should  be  an  inspiration  to  non- 
wage-earners  to  extend  opportunity  in  all  directions. 


48 


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54 


CHAPTER   IV 

The  Chicago  Worker 

Chicago,  like  New  York,  presents  distinct  problems, 
and  is  not  representative  of  any  place  but  itself,  except 
that,  like  all  great  cities,  it  is  at  once  the  opportunity  and 
the  undoing  of  the  girl  who  works  for  her  living  in  occu- 
pations crowded  to  the  portals.  The  girl  as  she  stands 
alone,  whether  in  the  east  or  the  west,  is  a  poor  bar- 
gainer, and  she  is  at  best  an  unthinking  creature  in  need 
of  wiser  guidance  than  the  impulses  of  youth  give  her. 

Over  100,000  women  contribute  their  labor  to  the  in- 
dustrial life  of  Chicago.  This  is  approximately  about  one- 
third  the  number  of  men  wage-earners  in  the  same  city, 
and  also  upwards  of  one-third  the  number  of  women 
found  at  work  in  New  York.  The  women  working  in  the 
two  cities  are  grinding  away  at  pretty  much  the  same  sort 
of  thing  in  the  busy  season  and  in  the  slack,  and  all  strug- 
gling hard  with  the  problem  of  making  a  living. 

Our  study  in  Chicago  carried  us  into  very  large  fac- 
tories, while  in  New  York  we  followed  girls  into  numer- 
ous comparatively  small  ones.  In  the  former  city,  the 
big  establishments  remind  one  of  the  great  places  in 
New  England  employing  many  hundreds  of  women.  The 
factories  have  grown  up  in  congested  foreign  sections  to 
a  considerable  extent,  thus  putting  them  within  easy 
reach  of  cheap  labor.  Certain  firms  in  the  clothing  busi- 
ness operate  several  factories  in  different  parts  of  the  city, 
thus  getting  cheaper  help  because  no  car  fares  need  to  be 
55 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

paid.  Some  have  concluded  that  the  employers  thus 
effect  a  weekly  saving  in  wages  about  equal  to  the  car 
fare  of  each  worker.  If  this  be  true,  it  would  seem  ex- 
cellent business  management  for  the  firms  and  quite  as 
advantageous  for  the  girl.  But  an  ethical  question  might 
well  be  raised.  Is  not  the  value  of  the  work  performed 
the  same  whether  transportation  has  to  be  paid  or  not? 
In  a  thoroughly  organized  trade  such  quibbling  would 
not  occur. 

The  working  conditions  of  30,000  women  formed  our 
study  in  the  second  city  in  the  country,  —  second  in  popu- 
lation, but  third  in  the  total  value  of  manufactured  prod- 
ucts. From  the  making  of  garments,  the  stores,  and  the 
metal-working  trades,  we  can  learn  much  of  the  women 
in  whom  our  interest  centers.  There  are  statistical  de- 
tails for  19 14  women  in  52  establishments,  and  these  are 
presented  later  to  show  tendencies  in  certain  directions. 

First  let  us  look  at  the  garment  workers  as  they  toil 
through  the  long  day  in  non-union  shops.  The  shops  or 
trades  that  are  organized  naturally  have  better  working 
conditions  and  higher  wages  than  those  that  are  not, 
since  the  unions  have  established  very  definite  standards 
in  these  respects.  Our  study  was  therefore  confined  to 
those  establishments  in  which  the  workers  had  no  such 
guarantee  of  immunity  from  the  unfortunate  phases  of  in- 
dustry as  that  furnished  by  union  contracts.  It  is  true, 
of  course,  that  some  non-union  shops  present  as  good 
conditions  as  union  establishments  can  boast,  but  there 
can  be  no  certainty  of  their  continuance  when  the  em- 
ployer alone  has  the  power  of  determining  the  character 
of  his  establishment. 

Clothing.  —  This  term  is  used  here  to  include  men's 
and    boys'   garments  and    women's  underwear,  and   we 

56 


THE   CHICAGO   WORKER 

confined  ourselves  to  eight  establishments  employing 
approximately  looo  women  —  a  small  proportion,  it  is 
true,  of  the  full  30,000  women  engaged  in  this  industry, 
but  the  places  visited  were  representative.  Employers 
were  extremely  loath  to  allow  any  investigation  to  be 
made,  and  they  seemed  unduly  sensitive  on  the  wages 
question.  It  was  possible,  however,  to  learn  much  of 
a  section  of  this  most  important  industry  so  far  as 
women  are  concerned.  Employees  were  seen  at  their 
work  places,  and  in  their  homes,  and  many  of  them 
talked  freely  upon  what  industrial  life  meant  to  them. 
Very  few  seemed  satisfied.  Their  dissatisfaction  was  not 
always  caused  by  low  wages,  or  long  hours,  but  by  petty 
annoyances  connected  with  the  trade.  As  an  example 
of  the  tyranny  of  offensive  customs,  the  case  of  one  rather 
conspicuous  establishment  employing  about  300  women 
may  be  cited.  Among  the  workers  were  the  newly  arrived 
immigrants  from  Poland,  Bohemia,  and  Hungary,  but  the 
majority  were  Poles,  Bohemians,  and  Scandinavians  born 
in  the  environs  of  their  present  workshop.  A  large  per- 
centage of  these  speak  English  but  little,  and  understand 
only  the  simplest  words.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
place  with  better  physical  conditions.  The  wages,  too, 
are  higher  than  those  found  in  many  factories,  and  there 
are  seldom  long  slack  seasons,  but  the  rules  of  the  house, 
the  restrictions  placed  upon  the  employees,  and  the  petty 
annoyances  to  which  they  are  subjected  are  most  distress- 
ing to  girls  who  have  the  energy  and  intelligence  to  re- 
sent them. 

There  was  an  oppressive   atmosphere   of  dull,  stupid 
endurance,  and  the  faces  of  most  of  the  women  were  piti- 
fully blank.     There   was   abundant  evidence  of  lack  of 
opportunity  for  promotion,  of  ceaseless  mechanical  work, 
57 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

of  colorless,  uneventful  lives,  and  all  this  with  good  physi- 
cal conditions  and  fairly  good  wages.  ^'  Girls  are  un- 
reasonable," said  the  employer;  ^^  what  more  can  they 
want?"  They  want  an  absence  of  fines  for  imperfect 
work  for  one  thing,  and  the  employer  to  furnish  thread 
and  needles  for  another.  But  he  does  not  see  the  force 
of  these  old  contentions.  The  buying  of  thread  or 
needles  or  both  is  a  constant  source  of  irritation  to  the 
more  intelHgent  workers  of  the  needle  trades  in  the  West 
as  in  the  East.  In  several  Chicago  establishments,  this 
was  found  to  amount  to  about  S2  a  week  for  those  using 
one-needle  machines,  and  it  falls  heavier  on  the  two-  and 
three-needle  operators,  who  pay  sometimes  from  $2.50  to 
S3  a  week  for  their  thread.  It  is  the  old,  old  story  heard 
in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  filling  the  worker  with 
a  revolutionary  spirit  w^henever  it  is  told.  The  girls  insist 
that  the  garment  is  sold  with  the  thread,  and  the  profit 
goes  to  the  employer.  An  added  grievance  is  that  em- 
ployees are  required  to  buy  thread  from  the  firm.  When 
questioned  about  this  one  girl  smiled  satirically  and  an- 
swered :  '^  Sure,  that's  the  way  they  make  their  money. 
We  could  get  it  much  cheaper  at  a  store." 

Another  thing  which  all  resent  is  the  lack  of  liberty. 
The  piece-workers  are  especially  rebellious  because  they 
are  required  to  be  ready  for  work  at  half-past  seven 
in  the  morning  on  pain  of  dismissal,  and  because  they 
cannot  leave  any  time  during  the  day  they  wish,  or 
w^hen  work  is  so  slack  that  there  is  nothing  for  them  to 
do.  They  argue  that  since  they  are  piece-workers,  their 
presence  in  the  factor}^  should  not  be  required  when 
the  firm  has  not  sufficient  work  to  keep  them  busy,  and 
that  they  should  not  be  compelled  to  stay  in  the  building 
idle  unless  paid  for  their  time.     In  one  factory,  a  girl 

58 


THE   CHICAGO   WORKER 

said  :  "  I  finished  all  I  had  to  do  three  hours  ago,  and 
now  I  sit  and  fold  my  hands.  My  mother  is  washing  at 
home  and  would  be  glad  to  have  me  there.  I  don't  see 
why  I  should  have  to  stay  here  when  it  does  not  do  the 
manager  any  good  or  me  either." 

Thus  do  they  complain.  They  want  first  a  chance  to 
work,  and  then  some  voice  in  regard  to  the  disposal  of 
their  time.  In  many  factory  processti,  there  are  delays, 
often  unexpected,  and  often  unavoidable,  which  bring 
hardship  to  the  piece-worker.  The  young  girl  cannot 
see  why  she  should  sit  idle  before  a  silent  machine,  when 
the  alluring  world  outside  is  calling  to  her.  In  some 
places,  girls  are  not  permitted  to  go  home  for  sickness 
unless  it  is  an  illness  sufficiently  serious  to  frighten  the 
superintendent.  One  girl  advanced  the  theory  that  it  is 
because  of  fear  lest  they  seek  employment  elsewhere  that 
they  are  not  allowed  to  leave  during  working  hours. 

The  week  workers  are  really  less  restricted  than  the 
piece-workers.  Many  of  them  are  little  girls,  finishers, 
packers,  and  inspectors,  who  laugh  and  sing  while  they 
do  their  work,  and  seem  to  feel  restraint  less  than  the 
older  girls. 

In  a  corset  factory,  where  there  is  a  graduated  piece 
rate  for  all  operations,  the  girls  insist  that  this  rate  is 
constantly  being  lowered  by  changes  in  fashion  so  that 
one  has  to  work  almost  twice  as  hard  as  she  did  a  year 
or  two  ago  to  make  the  same  amount  of  money.  The 
new- style  garment  is  nearly  twice  as  long  as  the  old. 
The  women  receive  the  same  rate  for  sewing  the  long 
seams  as  formerly  for  the  short  ones,  and  they  say  that 
whereas  some  of  the  best  workers  used  to  make  $12  and 
^18  it  is  now  impossible  for  a  girl,  working  all  the  time 
at  the  highest  possible  speed,  to  make  more  than  ^10  a 
59 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

week  unless  she  has  exceptional  energy  and  endurance. 
This  is  only  another  instance  of  the  hardships  freakish 
changes  in  fashion  have  forced  upon  women  in  industry. 

The  working  conditions  in  most  of  the  shops  are  gener- 
ally fairly  good.  They  are  clean  enough  and  well  hghted. 
The  air  is  not  bad  in  summer  when  the  windows  are  open, 
but  there  seems  to  be  little  attempt  at  artificial  ventila- 
tion, with  the  result  that  the  rooms  are  often  foul  in  winter. 
There  are,  however,  few  among  the  employees  who  seem 
to  understand  the  necessity  for  fresh  air.  Even  in  sum- 
mer, there  is  a  persistent  odor,  in  some  places,  of  gas  from 
the  gas  iron,  and  when  the  doors  and  windows  are  closed, 
it  is  very  distressing.  This  is  especially  true  in  the  tailor- 
ing shops.  It  would  seem  that  there  is  careless  neglect  in 
this  matter.  There  ought  to  be  some  way  of  preventing 
the  escape  of  gas.  One  of  the  girls  working  in  such  a 
place  spoke  of  the  difficulty  she  had  in  breathing  during 
the  winter.  Like  many  factory  girls  she  is  afraid  of  draughts, 
and  objects  to  open  windows  ;  but  she  believes  that  if  the 
foreman  or  some  one  in  authority  were  to  insist  upon  hav- 
ing the  windows  lowered  a  little  at  the  top,  the  draught 
would  not  be  serious,  and  the  girls  would  stop  wranghng 
over  the  subject.  All  through  the  year,  the  windows  are 
closed  before  the  employees  leave  at  night  and  remain  so 
until  after  work  begins  in  the  morning,  if  they  are  opened 
at  all. 

In  one  place,  there  were  two  little  Italian  girls  who  were 
undoubtedly  under  fourteen  years  of  age.  In  another  shop, 
there  were  several  Polish  children  who  gave  their  ages  as 
fifteen,  but  they  were  much  younger,  judging  from  appear- 
ances. These  children  cut  and  sewed  on  tags.  Their 
work  is  not  hard,  and  the  foreman  is  considerate  and  kind 
to  them,  but  they  have  to  stand  all  day.     When  his  atten- 

60 


THE   CHICAGO   WORKER 

tion  was  called  to  this  he  said  that  they  could  not  conven- 
iently do  their  work  sitting,  but  he  afterwards  admitted 
that  he  had  never  thought  how  injurious  constant  standing 
might  be  to  girls  of  that  age  and  said  he  would  provide 
seats  for  them.     They  are  paid  from  ^2.50  to  $2,  a  week. 

Almost  without  exception,  the  girls  said  they  spent  their 
free  time  at  home  helping  their  mothers.  Among  the 
older  girls  there  is  strong  class  feeling.  There  are  many 
newly  arrived  immigrants  who  do  not  speak  EngHsh,  and 
the  foreman  of  one  factory  said  that  almost  every  day  he 
hires  a  new  girl  who  is  still  on  the  ocean.  The  immigrants 
who  drift  into  these  shops  are  ignorant  and  dull,  and  too 
often  the  native-born  are  not  far  in  advance.  There  are 
a  few  bright  girls,  some  of  whom  are  studying  hard  at  va- 
rious things  outside  of  their  working  hours,  and  many  who 
say  that  they  read  a  great  deal,  while  others  had  never 
heard  of  the  public  library  or  its  various  branches. 

As  has  been  indicated  before,  much  discontent  prevails 
among  the  workers  in  this  trade.  The  chief  complaints 
of  the  girls  in  the  clothing  establishments  have  not  to  do 
with  wages,  although  in  many  instances  there  is  seemingly 
good  ground  for  complaint  on  this  score.  The  weekly 
earnings  range  from  ^2.50  to  ^12,  with  an  average  in  the 
neighborhood  of  ^7.  The  girls  protest  most  against  the 
long  day,  and  the  effects  of  this  and  the  nervous  strain  of 
their  work  are  decidedly  noticeable.  It  appears  in  heavy 
eyes  with  deep,  dark  rings,  in  wrinkled  skin,  and  old  young 
faces.  The  high  rate  of  speed  that  must  be  maintained 
through  so  many  successive  hours  is  undermining  the  health 
of  thousands  of  girls  in  this  industry. 

Another  grievance  is  overtime  in  the  busy  season.  The 
girls  are  required  to  work  until  half-past  seven  or  eight 
o'clock  two  or  three  nights  a  week.  They  usually  stay  at 
61 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

their  machines  through  the  supper  hour  and  send  boys 
out  to  bring  them  a  bite  to  eat.  This  is  done  to  save  time 
in  the  hope  of  getting  through  a  httle  earher.  They  seem 
to  resent  this  overtime  requirement  quite  as  much  as  the 
inevitable  slack  seasons,  which  amount  to  about  twelve 
weeks  in  the  year. 

The  employees  ordinarily  have  to  pay  for  goods  dam- 
aged in  the  making,  and  one  rath-er  interesting  method 
was  found  to  prevail  in  a  firm  operating  several  factories. 
Each  shop  is  given  into  the  care  of  a  foreman  who  hires, 
directs,  and  manages  everything  in  his  particular  establish- 
ment and  is  responsible  to  the  firm  for  output,  pay-roll, 
and  quality  of  goods.  He  is  held  responsible  for  faulty 
work,  and  employees  are  made  to  understand  that  their 
carelessness  causes  him  financial  loss.  When  any  serious 
damage,  that  cannot  be  concealed,  occurs,  the  foreman 
arranges  with  the  person  responsible,  to  raffle  the  garment 
when  completed,  the  supposition  being  that  the  money 
resulting  will  be  used  for  the  purchase  of  cloth  to  replace 
that  which  was  spoiled^  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
system  proves  profitable  both  to  the  foreman  and  to 
the  firm,  inasmuch  as  tickets  at  ten  cents  each  are  sold 
up  to  the  retail  value  of  the  garment.  Employees  are 
generous  in  buying,  each  one  knowing  her  turn  may  come 
some  day.  The  tax  on  the  individual  is  hght,  and  does 
not  seem  to  be  regarded  as  a  hardship,  while  a  five-cent 
fine  for  a  half-hour's  tardiness  in  the  morning  is  considered 
an  outrage  in  the  places  where  such  a  custom  still  prevails. 

The  women  who  make  clothes  are  at  the  mercy  of  cir- 
cumstances they  do  not  understand,  and  cannot  control 
as  individuals.  Their  helplessness  should  commend  them 
particularly  to  the  kindly  interest  of  well-to-do  women  at 
home  whose  hands  are  now  freed  from  the  needle  because 

62 


THE   CHICAGO   WORKER 

of  the  girl  in  the  shop.  The  girls'  rather  frantic  occa- 
sional endeavors  to  help  themselves  should  not  be  con- 
demned. They  are  doing  the  best  they  can,  and  should 
be  helped  whenever  it  is  possible  for  outsiders  to  lend  a 
hand. 

The  Department  Stores.  —  The  stores  furnish  a  vast 
field  of  employment  to  women,  and  one  of  great  attrac- 
tiveness, coupled  with  serious  dangers  to  many.  The  work 
requires  no  skill,  and  so  positions  are  easily  accessible  to 
the  girl  who  must  work  and  does  not  know  how  to  do 
anything  in  particular,  and,  perhaps,  feels  a  bit  above  tak- 
ing her  chances  in  a  factory.  The  life  of  a  "  saleslady  " 
seems  most  alluring  to  many  young  girls«  They  see  only 
the  delight  of  being  more  or  less  dressed  up,  on  exhibi- 
tion in  fact,  all  the  time.  All  this  is  so  much  more  in- 
viting than  guiding  a  sewing-machine  in  a  dingy  loft  or 
pasting  labels  on  cans  in  a  miserable  basement,  that  the 
possible  opportunities  in  factory  work  are  rarely  con- 
sidered by  a  certain  class.  The  store  offers  infinitely 
greater  advantages,  girls  think,  and  they  look  down  on 
the  factory  operative,  as  she  in  turn  looks  down  on  the 
domestic  servant. 

We  studied,  in  all,  nineteen  stores  employing  nearly 
17,000  women.  This  list  includes  a  few  shops,  outside 
of  the  loop  or  downtown  district,  in  populous,  outlying 
sections.  The  conditions  in  these  places  vary  from  good 
to  very  bad.  Some  stores  have  considerable  prestige 
and  pay  poor  wages,  while  others  have  no  prestige  and 
pay  higher  wages.  In  some,  there  is  every  reasonable 
provision  made  for  the  care  of  the  workers ;  there  are 
elevators  and  cloak  rooms  and  rest  rooms,  and  light  and 
air  and  cleanHness ;  others  provide  none  of  these  things 
adequately. 

63 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

The  question  of  wages  is  always  a  difficult  one  to 
answer.  Employers  in  stores  seem  to  be  much  more 
sensitive  on  the  subject  than  factory  owners.  The  latter 
will,  on  occasion,  reveal  their  pay-rolls,  but  it  would  re- 
quire unusual  pressure  to  induce  the  merchant  to  do  so. 
Then  again,  experience  with  thousands  of  employees  leads 
to  the  belief  that  shop  girls  are  more  likely  to  quote  ficti- 
tious averages  than  are  their  factory  sisters.  The  sales- 
woman comes  in  constant  touch  with  the  outside  world 
and  has  learned  to  be  wary,  if  not  actually  untruthful. 
The  moral  effect  of  certain  types  of  stores  must  be  most 
disastrous  to  girls,  for  they  are  instructed  to  tell  the  cus- 
tomer anything  to  insure  a  sale  :  "  You  will  get  it  this 
afternoon,"  for  example,  when  in  the  natural  course  of 
events  the  article  just  purchased  will  not  be  delivered  till 
the  following  morning.  Then,  too,  they  are  frequently  told 
to  misrepresent  values  of  things  offered  at  a  special  price. 
So  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  tend  to  get  the  real  and 
imaginary  wage  confused  in  their  own  minds.  One  has 
to  become  pretty  well  acquainted  with  a  large  number  of 
girls  in  order  to  know  very  much  about  their  incomes. 
Rather  intimate  acquaintance  with  this  particular  occu- 
pation in  Chicago  for  a  number  of  years  enables  me  to 
state  unhesitatingly  that  wages  in  the  stores  are  unduly 
low.  Every  estabHshment  can  exultingly  point  to  ex- 
amples of  women  earning  anywhere  from  ^15  to  ^25  or 
more  a  week,  but  the  overwhelming  majority  get  nearer 
^3  than  ^30.  The  system  of  payment  here  varies  from 
a  flat  weekly  rate  to  a  minimum  sum  plus  a  regular  com- 
mission on  sales,  or  to  a  maximum  sum  plus  a  small 
commission  for  special  sales  or  for  busy  seasons.  Several 
stores  offer  $2.50  a  week  plus  commission.  In  depart- 
ments like  millinery,  dress  goods,  and  suits,  the  commis- 
64 


THE   CHICAGO   WORKER 

sion  amounts  to  considerable  in  the  busy  seasons,  while 
in  other  departments,  such  as  notions  and  small  wares,  a 
girl  cannot  earn  much  at  any  time.  Cash  girls  and 
wrappers  quite  generally  start  on  $2.50  and  ^3  a  week, 
while  entry  clerks  are  paid  about  $1  more. 

In  959  cases,  exclusive  of  cash  girls,  selected  from  the 
various  departments  of  tlie  nineteen  stores,  the  weekly 
earnings  ranged  from  $2.50  to  ^24,  but  only  in  one  m- 
stance  does  the  maximum  sum  appear  and  the  recipient 
was  a  woman  thirty-one  years  of  age.  A  few,  only  twenty- 
eight  in  all,  report  from  ^15  to  $20  a  week.  A  shghtly 
larger  proportion  show  a  weekly  income  of  from  $10  to 
$1^,  while  the  remaining  women  hover  perilously  near  to 
$^.  Only  thirty-three  of  the  entire  number  paid  nothing 
at  all  for  living  expenses.  The  department-store  workers 
as  a  whole  are  underpaid.  They  have  to  make  a  good 
appearance  or  they  cannot  get  or  hold  their  places.  Thus 
the  cost  of  dress  is  greater  than  for  the  poorly  paid  fac- 
tory girl.  It  is  plain,  too,  that  the  girl  behind  the  counter, 
in  a  store  catering  to  wealthy  patrons,  is  likely  to  acquire 
tastes  out  of  keeping  with  her  income.  It  is  a  hard  life 
at  best,  and  yet  one  greatly  sought  after  by  girls  who  must 
work,  but  who  desire  an  occupation  that  seems  to  carry 
with  it  some  social  distinction  in  the  working  world. 

Not  only  are  the  wages  in  the  stores  low,  but  the  hours 
are  long.  The  day  in  the  downtown  district  begins  at 
eight  or  a  half-hour  later  and  ends  at  six  or  half-past  six. 
Some  close  a  half-hour  earlier  during  two  summer  months, 
and  have  only  a  half-day  on  Saturday.  The  lunch  period 
is  usually  half  or  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  The  work- 
ing day  for  the  girl,  however,  is  much  longer  than  these 
hours  would  indicate,  as  she  must  be  in  her  place  from 
ten  to  fifteen  minutes  before  the  time  for  opening  and 

F  65 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

frequently  is  required  to  remain  to  put  away  stock  after 
the  store  is  technically  closed.  The  amount  of  overtime 
varies  with  the  shop  and  the  department.  Some  girls 
have  to  stay  until  eight  or  nine  o'clock  several  nights  in 
the  week,  and,  in  those  places  making  a  feature  of  bar- 
gain sales,  some  saleswomen  are  obliged  to  remain  every 
night  to  get  things  ready  for  the  following  day.  In  more 
than  one  store  they  receive  no  pay  and  not  even  supper 
for  this  overtime,  and  they  do  not  have  a  chance  to  buy 
food  for  themselves  until  the  work  is  completed. 

The  girls  in  stores  in  the  outlying  districts  work  until 
nine  or  ten  at  night,  even  in  the  dull  season.  Custom 
keeps  the  places  open  when  it  seems  questionable  business 
policy.  This  long  day  of  the  saleswoman  means  almost 
constant  standing.  The  absence  of  enough  seats  to  con- 
form to  the  state  law  is  noticeable  even  in  the  best  stores, 
in  some  departments,  and  it  is  a  great  cause  for  complaint. 

Some  firms  give  employees  of  at  least  a  year's  stand- 
ing a  week's  vacation  with  pay,  but  the  custom  is  not  at 
all  general.  Many  of  the  stores  make  a  feature  of  welfare 
work  and  in  these,  of  course,  the  women  have  greater 
physical  comforts.  Employees'  lunch  rooms  of  one 
kind  or  another  are  common  ;  mutual  benefit  associations 
are  not  rare  ;  and  even  choral  societies  are  found. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  employer  is  not  respon- 
sible for  all  the  hardships  of  the  saleswoman's  Hfe.  The 
idle  shopper  contributes  her  quota.  Women  with  time 
hanging  heavy  on  their  hands  often  haunt  the  shops 
with  no  idea  of  purchasing,  and  weary  the  clerks  by  use- 
less questions.  This  is  especially  true  in  stores  where 
poHteness  to  all  is  an  iron-clad  rule.  In  the  lower  grade 
of  shop  where  courtesy  is  not  a  requirement,  the  clerk 
suffers  less  from  the  annoyance  of  the  shop   tramp.     A 

66 


THE   CHICAGO   WORKER 

few  well-chosen  epithets  aimed  at  the  tormentor  will 
usually  leave  the  girl  behind  the  counter  free  to  pat  her 
mounds  of  hair  and  otherwise  arrange  her  toilet,  —  or  to 
serve  legitimate  purchasers.  The  nervous  strain  of  sell- 
ing goods  in  crowded  city  stores  is  serious  under  the  best 
conditions,  but  when  purposeless  shoppers  persist  in  mak- 
ing unreasonable  demands,  the  position  of  the  saleswoman 
is  no  enviable  one.  The  girl  in  the  factory  speeding  at 
her  machine  to  the  limit  of  her  endurance  has  no  other 
individual  to  consider,  but  the  girl  who  sells  the  article 
must  ordinarily  work  as  swiftly  as  possible  and,  at  the  same 
time,  be  polite  to  a  number  of  more  or  less  unreasonable 
women.  Perhaps  the  girls  resent  most  of  all  the  one  who 
in  a  patronizing  way  asks  if  they  are  tired,  or  how  much 
wages  they  get.  This  does  not  mean  that  they  do  not 
appreciate  a  genuine  interest  in  their  welfare. 

The  saleswoman  is  ever  before  the  shopping  pubHc, 
condemned,  commiserated,  sometimes  praised,  but  always 
wearing  her  Hfe  out  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  while 
away  from  the  gaze  of  men  are  other  groups  of  girls  en- 
during hardships  peculiarly  their  own.  One  of  these 
groups  for  which  we  ask  consideration  is  the  one  in  which 
may  be  classed  those  engaged  in  working  with  electrical 
apphances  and  somewhat  similar  products. 

The  Metal  Workers.  —  One  great  electrical  establish- 
ment will  serve  to  illustrate  difficulties  that  seem  to 
inhere  in  the  metal-working  trades.  The  general  work- 
ing conditions  in  this  factory  are  good.  There  is  an  honest 
effort  to  keep  the  place  clean,  to  ventilate  it,  to  guard  the 
machinery,  and  to  make  the  girls  satisfied  with  their  sur- 
roundings. So  far  as  it  was  possible  to  observe,  it  seemed 
that  the  foremen  and  forewomen  were  well  chosen,  con- 
siderate, and  well  liked.     The    girls    took   occasion   to 

67 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

speak  of  their  appreciation  of  their  employers,  often  speak- 
ing enthusiastically.  But  there  are  many  things  not  con- 
ducive to  the  health  of  the  workers,  most  of  which  could 
probably  be  avoided.  The  buildings  are  filled  with  so 
many  kinds  of  machinery  that  the  whole  structure  throbs 
constantly.  The  braiding  machine  department,  where  the 
silk  covering  is  woven  around  the  electrical  cord,  is 
particularly  noisy  and  the  vibration  almost  unbearable. 
The  effect  upon  those  who  spend  nine  hours  a  day  in 
such  surroundings  must  of  necessity  be  bad.  Even 
when  one  has  become  accustomed  to  the  noise,  and 
there  is  no  apparent  result  at  the  time,  there  must  in- 
evitably be  a  breakdown  when  the  nerves  of  a  frail 
girl  will  rebel  against  this  particular  strain.  One 
foreman  said  that  these  machines  are  among  the  noisiest 
made,  but  that  there  is  no  way  to  remedy  the  diffi- 
culty. It  would  seem,  however,  in  this  age,  when 
nothing  is  impossible  to  the  inventor,  that  the  worst  might 
at  least  be  mitigated.  Surely  it  would  not  be  so  hard  to 
make  a  small  improvement  for  the  safety  and  the  health 
of  the  employees  as  to  construct  a  machine  which  wdll  do 
the  work  of  this  one. 

The  department  which  manufactures  a  certain  type  of 
electrical  lamp  carries  with  it  injurious  conditions.  Most 
of  the  work  is  done  by  hand,  but  there  is  one  part  of  the 
operation  which  requires  the  use  of  a  gas  machine  in  a 
dark  room.  This  emits  an  intense  blue  flame  in  which 
two  pieces  of  glass  are  held  until  they  melt,  when  a  mold 
is  brought  down,  welding  them  together.  The  work  is  ex- 
tremely trying  to  the  eyes,  and  many  of  the  girls  wear 
glasses.  There  are  ventilating  windows  opening  into  the 
outer  room,  and  a  skylight  is  ordinarily  open,  but  always 
screened  to  keep  out  the  Hght.     An  odor  of  gas  seems  to 

68 


THE   CHICAGO   WORKER 

pervade  the  room  all  the  time.  The  workers  in  this  de- 
partment receive  the  highest  wages  of  any  women  in  the 
factory.  One  girl  was  found  who  makes  from  ^19  to  $33 
a  week,  but  she  said  she  felt  sick  all  the  time.  And  who 
can  wonder?  Society  demands  all  kinds  of  conveniences 
for  lighting  and  communication,  but  apparently  has  no 
thought  of  the  human  wreckage  too  often  involved  in  the 
processes  connected  with  supplying  these. 

In  another  industry  in  the  group  under  consideration, 
certain  firms  admit  that  they  have  to  employ  what  they  call 
low-type  Lithuanians,  because  they  alone  can  stand  the  wear 
and  tear.  They  say  the  American  girl  could  not  endure 
the  labor  two  days,  but  the  Lithuanian  women  work  in 
the  factory  all  day  and  often  take  in  washing  in  the  even- 
ing in  addition  to  keeping  boarders.  One  place  where  such 
women  work  was  filthy  beyond  belief,  the  heat  sickening, 
and  the  noise  deafening.  There  were  no  dressing  rooms, 
only  three  little  partially  screened  stalls  with  a  few 
pegs  on  which  to  hang  clothes.  One  noon,  three  girls 
were  found  lying  on  the  floor  of  each  stall  resting,  while 
the  others  had  to  wait  because  there  was  no  space  for  them. 

Still  another  factory  carrying  on  processes  difficult  for 
women  presents  a  different  character.  Here  there  is  ample 
light,  and  air,  and  space,  with  excellent  dressing  rooms.  A 
room  is  provided  where  the  girls  may  eat  the  lunch  they 
bring  from  home,  tea  and  coffee  being  served  free.  A  visit- 
ing woman  physician  is  engaged  by  the  firm  to  go  through 
the  factory  and  examine  the  girls  personally  to  ascertain 
their  physical  condition.  A  social  club  of  girls  in  charge  of 
this  woman  physician  meets  for  dancing  and  general  good 
times.  At  Christmas,  each  employee  receives  a  bonus  of 
10  per  cent  of  her  earnings  for  the  entire  year.  As  no  one 
earns  less  than  $6  a  week  and  some  earn  as  high  as  $12  and 

69 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

^14,  the  amount  so  distributed  is  large.  The  working  day  is 
nine  and  one-half  hours  with  no  overtime.  There  is  a  Sat- 
urday half-holiday  in  the  summer,  and  vacation  is  allowed 
to  those  who  wish  it,  but  it  is  not  paid  for  by  the  employer. 
The  girls  on  the  whole  are  well  treated  and  comfortable. 

Thus  do  the  burdened  days  go  on  in  hundreds  of  fac- 
tories and  stores  throughout  the  city,  unmindful  as  the 
machinery  that  girls  are  daily  being  rendered  unfit  for  the 
duties  of  wifehood  and  motherhood  by  the  industrial  pro- 
cesses of  which  they  are  such  a  vital  part.  Thoughtful 
people,  of  course,  are  not  unmindful  of  this,  and  in  various 
movements  are  trying  to  offset  the  disastrous  influence  of 
toil  under  unfavorable  conditions. 

While  it  is  the  purpose  here  to  reserve  for  a  special 
chapter  a  discussion  of  conspicuous  movements  in  behalf 
of  wage-earning  women,  something  of  the  scope  of  the 
larger  efforts  in  Chicago  may  be  learned  from  the  following 
statement  in  regard  to  certain  activities  : 

Settlements.  —  There  are  twenty  settlements^  and  in- 
stitutional churches  in  Chicago  which  undertake  better- 
ment work  for  young  wage-earning  women.  Fifteen  of 
these  have  a  total  number  of  seventy  clubs,  with  a  mem- 
bership of  over  2000.  Nineteen  of  the  settlements  and 
churches  conduct  classes,  and  only  one  of  these  keeps  no 
record  of  the  number  and  membership  of  its  classes ;  the 
total  number  of  classes  for  the  other  eighteen  settlements 
and  churches  is  131,  with  a  membership  of  1717  for  92 
classes ;  the  membership  of  the  other  39  classes  was  not 
given.     All  but  four  of  the  settlements  and  churches  send 

1  Difificulties  frequently  arise  in  connection  with  compiling  such  fig- 
ures. Some  institutions,  usually  included  under  the  head  of  "  settle- 
ments," refused  to  be.so  considered,  claiming  that  they  were  "missions,  '* 
or  "  schools,"  and  so  they  were  omitted  from  the  list.  However,  the  fig- 
ures are  presented  as  approximately  correct. 

70 


THE   CHICAGO   WORKER 


girls  to  summer  vacation  homes  or  camps  or  arrange  for 
some  outing  for  their  members. 

Trade  Unions.  —  Twenty-seven  unions  in  Chicago  ad- 
mit women  to  membership.  Twenty-two  of  these  have  a 
membership  of  7470. 

Homes  for  Working  Women.  —  Sixteen  of  these  special 
boarding  places  exist  and  accommodate  over  1200  at 
rates  varying  between  ^2.75  and  ^5. 

Welfare  Work.  —  Thirty  estabhshments  were  found  in 
which  the  employers  were  conducting  various  kinds  of 
betterment  work. 

Clubs.  —  The  Association  of  Working  Girls'  Clubs,  so 
active  in  the  East,  has  no  branch  here,  but  many  local 
clubs  maintain  lunch  rooms  and  classes  and  are  worthy  of 
commendation. 

These  opportunities  seem  pitiably  small  when  compared 
with  the  tens  of  thousands  who  must  be  without  the  pale. 

GHmpsesof  the  life  and  possible  needs  of  19 14  women 
in  six  industries  in  Chicago  are  given  in  the  following 
statistics,  which  are  presented  in  connection  with  a  study 
of  1476  cases  in  New  York,  as  some  interesting  compari- 
sons may  be  made : 


New 
York 

Chicago 

1476  Cases 

19 14  Cases 

Nationality 

Americans 

735 

1295 

Jews 

373 

179 

Germans 

81 

138 

British 

93 

118 

Italians 

148 

* 

Poles 

* 

60 

Scandinavians 

* 

41 

Others 

40 

8i 

Not  given 

6 

2 

*  The  number  being  small  has  been  included  in  "  Others." 

71 

WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 


New 
York 

Chicago 

1476  Cases 

19 14  Cases 

Age 

Under  25  years  of  age 

I161 

1482 

Not  given 

20 

141 

Wages 

Earning  less  than  $7   per 

week 

661 

753 

Not  given 

10 

55 

Living     ar- 

Living at  home 

1304 

1618 

rangements 

Number  of  those  living  at 
home  who  contribute  to 

family  support 

1246 

1543 

Conjugal 

Single 

1337 

1730 

condition 

Married 

66 

74 

Widowed 

57 

67 

Divorced,  deserted,  or  sepa- 

rated 

5 

22 

Not  given 

II 

21 

Opportunities 

Pursuing  study  of  some  sort 

479 

281 

for  study 

Using  libraries 

396 

324 

Favorite 

Theater 

356 

356 

amusement  ^ 

Dancing 

Outdoor   amusements    and 

185 

290 

athletics 

92 

220 

Music 

82 

200 

Sewing  and  reading 

121 

247 

Miscellaneous  amusements 

217 

169 

No  preference  expressed 

466 

500 

Church 

Protestant 

327 

615 

affliation 

CathoHc 

659 

641 

Jewish 

86 

96 

Attending  church  but  speci- 

fying no  denomination 

48 

405 

Not  given 

356 

157 

1  The  discrepancy  between  the  total  number  of  amusements  and  the 
number  of  women  interviewed  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  in  New 
York  43  persons  and  in  Chicago  68  expressed  two  preferences. 

72 


THE   CHICAGO   WORKER 

As  has  been  stated  before,  a  great  deal  is  being  done 
now  for  the  wage-earning  women  of  Chicago  by  various 
groups,  and  types  of  organizations.  Lunch  and  social 
clubs  are  numerous  in  the  center  of  the  city  and  classes 
are  held  in  various  places.  Kind  employers,  interested 
individuals,  more  or  less  militant  unions,  and  the  state 
itself,  are  taking  a  hand  in  the  movement  for  the  improve- 
ment of  conditions,  but  here  as  elsewhere  much  still 
remains  to  be  accomplished. 


73 


CHAPTER  V 

Women  in  New  Jersey  Towns 

New  Jersey  is  interesting  to  the  student  of  the  wage- 
earning  class,  both  on  account  of  its  dominant  industrial 
interests,  and  its  proximity  to  two  of  the  country's  great 
manufacturing  centers,  which  in  turn  tend  to  lure,  by  their 
supposedly  greater  attractiveness,  ambitious  workers  from 
this  state.  The  nearness  of  the  largest  cities  to  New 
York  on  the  one  hand,  and  Philadelphia  on  the  other, 
may  account  for  some  of  the  unrest  evident  among  many 
employees,  and  also  for  the  lack  of  betterment  under- 
takings. That  is,  these  cities  tend  to  become  merely 
suburban  to  the  greater  ones,  and  are  thus  victims  of  that 
divided  interest  which  is  inevitable  where  business  and 
residence  are  widely  separated. 

Many  working  women  look  with  longing  eyes  to  the 
skyscrapers  of  Manhattan  as  the  goal  of  their  industrial 
ambition,  and  clerks  and  stenographers  by  the  hundreds 
rush  over  the  ferries  morning  and  night,  and  glory  in  the 
whirl  that  draws  them  into  the  nation's  greatest  business 
center.  But  the  unskilled  factory  girl  ordinarily  must 
stay  at  home,  and  seek  employment  near  at  hand.  Thus 
the  working  women  of  the  state  under  consideration  may 
be  divided  into  two  classes,  those  who  toil  within  and  those 
who  toil  without. 

It  is  with  the  former  class  that  this  study  deals.  But 
the  population  is  so  largely  a  manufacturing  one  that  a 
story  of  the  wage-earners  is  virtually  a  story  of  the  people 

74 


WOMEN   IN   NEW  JERSEY  TOWNS 

of  the  state.  Out  of  a  total  of  upwards  of  two  millions, 
we  find  over  three-quarters  of  a  million  working  daily  for 
wages,  and  of  these  nearly  150,000  are  women  sixteen 
years  of  age  and  over.  These  women  are  found  in 
most  of  the  industries  represented,  but  they  appear 
in  greatest  numbers  in  the  making  of  food  and 
cigars,  clothing,  textiles,  and  paper  goods,  and  in  the 
potteries. 

It  is  the  purpose  here  to  limit  the  account  of  women 
wage-earners  to  the  silk-mills  and  the  potteries  because 
both  of  these  interests  are  large.  Silk  is  the  most  impor- 
tant of  the  textile  industries,  and  according  to  censuses 
taken  in  1900  and  1905,  New  Jersey  ranked  first  in  the 
whole  country  in  the  value  of  her  silk  products.  There 
are  approximately  60,000  people  working  in  silk-mills  in 
the  United  States,  and  nearly  half  of  these  are  women,  of 
whom  New  Jersey  contributes  more  than  a  third.  Thus 
the  state  presents  a  promising  field  for  the  study  of 
women  who  help  to  make  silk  products. 

The  case  of  the  potteries  is  similar.  New  Jersey  ranks 
second  in  this  industry,  Ohio  ranking  first  with  its  scores 
of  establishments,  a  number  of  which  produce  ware  of 
great  artistic  value.  In  the  former  state,  the  output  is 
largely  the  more  usual  commercial  articles  without  great 
esthetic  merit.  Just  because  this  is  so,  the  condition  of 
the  workers  should  be  of  great  moment  to  the  average 
consumer,  who  must  use  ordinary  china  and  other  house- 
hold crockery.  Narrow  and  selfish  interests  might  lead 
us  to  be  more  concerned  for  the  women  who  make  goods 
in  constant  use  in  oifr  homes  than  in  those  things  remote 
from  our  daily  lives.  If  every  consumer  would  insist  that 
the  articles  in  common  use  in  his  home  should  be  made 
under  wholesome  conditions,  there  would  be  no  more  vile, 
75 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

unsanitary  shops,  no  more  degrading  toil  for  women,  pro 
vided  only  that  the  insistence  be  made  effective  by  com- 
bination. But,  as  such  united  endeavor  presupposes  more 
highly  socialized  individuals  than  those  constituting  the 
majority  in  most  communities,  other  undertakings  must 
be  regarded  as  socially  valuable.  Where  elimination  of 
industrial  ills  is  not  immediately  possible,  their  ameliora- 
tion must  be  insisted  upon. 

In  proceeding  first  to  a  consideration  of  the  workers 
engaged  in  making  various  kinds  of  silk  goods,  it  may  be 
well  to  outhne  the  types  of  work  which  utilize  women. 
They  are  chiefly  spinning,  winding,  warping,  and  weaving, 
with  the  allied  processes. 

Dyeing  is  usually  done  by  men,  while  spinning,  which 
calls  for  no  special  skill,  and  is  poorly  paid,  is  largely 
turned  over  to  children  and  very  young  girls.  The 
same  is  true  of  ^Macing,"  a  process  necessary  in  wind- 
ing "  hard "  or  natural  silk  for  the  dyer.  Children 
divide  the  skeins  into  four  or  five  strands  and  lace  a 
string  in  and  out  and  back  again  to  prevent  snarling. 
They  work  swiftly,  but  rarely  earn  more  than  ^3.50  a 
week.  Winding,  like  other  textile  winding  processes, 
consists  in  transferring,  by  machinery,  the  spun  silk  to 
spools  for  the  shuttle.  The  worker's  task  is  one  of 
guidance  and  careful  watching,  in  addition  to  keeping  the 
frame  suppHed  with  fresh  spools.  One  girl  frequently 
watches  fifty  or  more  separate  threads  at  a  time,  joining 
broken  ones  and  otherwise  adjusting  them. 

Warping,  or  preparing  the  thread  in  the  loom  for 
weaving,  also  requires  close  attention  from  the  operator,  in 
order  that  imperfections  in  the  finished  product  may  be 
avoided. 

The   foregoing    processes  differ  somewhat  with   dyed 

76 


WOMEN    IN   NEW   JERSEY   TOWNS 

and  undyed  silks.  The  latter  is  not  so  pleasant  to  work 
with  as  the  former  on  account  of  a  disagreeable  odor 
resulting  from  the  process  of  removing  a  certain  sizing 
by  plunging  the  silk  in  a  hot  chemical  solution  and  sub- 
sequently drying  it  by  artificial  heat.  Owing  to  this 
unpleasantness,  work  with  undyed  silk  does  not,  as  a  rule, 
attract  the  better  class  of  workers.  It  is  noticeable 
everywhere  that  objectionable  features,  such  as  bad  odors 
or  filth  in  an  industry,  tend  to  drive  out  the  more  intelli- 
gent women,  who  seek  pleasanter  surroundings,  even 
though  less  remunerative. 

Most  of  the  work  in  silk-mills,  however,  is  not  objec- 
tionable in  itself,  although  it  may  easily  become  so  if 
carried  on  in  foul  air  and  poorly  kept  rooms.  Fresh  air 
and  cleanliness  go  far  towards  making  any  textile  process 
less  of  a  hardship  to  the  women  who  labor  in  the  in- 
dustry. The  women  themselves  are  usually  the  last  to 
reaUze  the  disastrous  effects  of  unsanitary  workshops,  and 
the  thoughtful  employer  frequently  meets  opposition  from 
the  very  women  whom  he  desires  to  help.  But  more 
often  than  not,  the  manufacturer  is  much  more  concerned 
about  the  output  of  the  mills  than  the  physical  and 
moral  well-being  of  his  employees. 

Another  process  is  "picking,"  which  pays  uniformly 
only  about  $6  a  week,  although  it  requires  close  appli- 
cation and  great  care.  The  woven  fabric  is  passed 
over  to  girls  who  are  supplied  with  sharp  pincers 
and  clippers,  and  they  carefully  examine  every  piece, 
chpping  off  stray  threads,  ends,  or  knots  wherever  they 
appear.  In  order  to  do  the  work  thoroughly,  many  use 
magnifying  glasses,  and  find  it  extremely  trying  to  the 
nerves,  as  it  requires  the  closest  attention.  All  the  pro- 
cesses in  fact  call  for  a  degree  of  watchfulness  which 
77 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

means  considerable  strain.  The  girls  who  weave  gor- 
geous plaid  silks  have  an  unusual  number  of  bobbins 
to  follow  and  complain  of  great  nervousness.  They  start 
and  tremble  at  the  slightest  unusual  sound ;  and  their 
faces  twitch  as  the  threads  shoot  in  and  out  to  form  the 
bright  designs.  The  lover  of  gay  plaids  rarely  knows 
that  young  life  has  lost  its  vigor  and  young  faces  have 
become  lined  in  their  making. 

It  is  young  life  in  the  silk-mills  in  our  New  Jersey 
towns,  for  the  average  age  in  many  factories  is  not  more 
than  twenty.  The  girls  are,  in  the  main,  alert  and  keen 
when  they  enter  the  mills,  and  those  in  the  simpler  forms 
of  the  industry  retain  their  buoyancy  in  spite  of  poor 
working  conditions  and  low  wages. 

The  wages,  except  for  the  weavers,  are  low.  Even  in- 
cluding the  most  highly  paid,  the  average  is  well  below  t'j 
a  week  when  employment  is  fairly  regular,  as  may  be  seen 
from  the  following  statement  based  on  a  canvass  of  300 
workers,   representing  seven   distinct  processes. 

Average 
Form  of  Occupation  Weekly  Wage 

Spinning $  5.00 

Winding 7.50 

Warping 6.00 

Picking 6.00 

Weaving 10.00 

Lacing 3.50 

Cutting 3,50 

The  mere  statement  should  be  sufficient  to  convince 
any  thinking  person  that  wages  are  too  low  to  permit  a 
girl  to  be  self-supporting  and  self-respecting.  These 
workers  are  not  "pin  money''  girls,  but  young  women 
who  must  take  care  of  themselves,  and  frequently  help  to 

78 


WOMEN   IN   NEW  JERSEY  TOWNS 

bear  family  burdens  as  well.  It  would  seem  that  every 
reasonable  effort  should  be  made  to  place  these  girls  on  a 
higher  economic  plane.  If  technical  training  would  en- 
able the  girl  to  be  more  valuable  to  her  employer,  and 
enable  her  to  earn  higher  wages,  then,  undoubtedly,  it 
should  be  furnished,  either  in  connection  with  the  public 
schools  or  in  private  classes.  Employers  are  prone  to 
say  that  young  girls  are  not  worth  the  insignificant  sums 
they  do  earn,  owing  to  their  lack  of  skill  and  consequent 
wastefulness.  If  this  be  true,  immediate  steps  should  be 
taken  to  remedy  the  difficulty.  If  heedless  young  crea- 
tures are  ruining  their  lives  because  they  have  not  been 
taught  properly,  the  burden  of  wrong  must  fall  upon  society. 

But  the  silk-mill  operatives  are  not  more  in  need  of 
assistance  in  this  particular  than  those  in  the  other  group 
with  which  we  are  concerned  in  the  state. 

The  potteries  contribute  their  quota  of  low-skilled  and 
underpaid  workers,  but  the  situation  here  is  somewhat 
different.  The  women  naturally  fall  into  two  classes,  — 
the  decorators  or  privileged  group,  and  the  other  workers. 
The  former  seem  to  have  a  good  deal  of  freedom  in  their 
hours,  and  are  very  intelligent  young  women.  Their 
work  consists  in  the  printing  of  papers  with  lead  colors  to 
transfer  to  china,  called  decalcomania  work,  rubbing, 
printing,  and,  finally,  the  filling  in  and  gilding  of  the  ware. 
The  decalcomaning  and  gilding  yield  the  highest  wage, 
and  furnish  the  most  skilled  work  for  women  in  the  in- 
dustry. Other  types  of  work  for  women  are  the  pro- 
cesses known  as 

(i)   Dipping,   which   consists   in  wetting    the   biscuit 

ware,  so  called  after  the  first  firing,  in  the  glaze.     The 

girls  wear  rubber  gloves  to  protect  their  hands  from  the 

spattering  which  is  hable  to  occur,  and  as  there  is  some 

79 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

lead  in  the  glaze  it  might  be  dangerous  if  they  did  not 
exercise  care. 

(2)  Cleaning,  that  is,  brushing  and  shaking  off  the  dust 
which  becomes  free  in  the  firing,  and  accumulates  in  the 
trays  used  for  carrying  the  appliances.  The  girls  tip  the 
contents  of  the  trays  on  tables  in  front  of  them,  and  clean 
each  individual  piece  ready  for  sorting.  An  unusual 
amount  of  dust  is  raised  in  the  cleaning  process,  and 
many  wear  caps,  and  in  other  ways  try  to  protect  them- 
selves. As  the  glaze  contains  lead,  and  the  china  more 
flint  than  porcelain,  the  dust  which  arises  would  be  in- 
jurious if  precautions  were  not  taken.  In  the  best  places, 
exhaust  pipes  are  attached  to  the  table  at  which  the  girls 
stand,  and  there  is  an  outlet  in  front  of  each  girl  with  a 
draft  sufficiently  strong  to  carry  off  a  large  part  of  the 
waste  particles. 

In  one  establishment  where  the  ware  was  particularly 
rough,  the  women  found  it  necessary  to  use  sandpaper 
before  the  brush.  This  was  very  hard  on  the  hands. 
Most  of  them  had  their  knuckles  bound  in  rags,  and,  even 
then,  they  were  bleeding.  One  big  brush  which  was  at- 
tached to  a  machine  for  cleaning  large  pieces  was  placed 
near  a  window.  Otherwise  there  was  no  means  of  col- 
lecting or  discharging  the  excessive  dust,  and  this  is  the 
condition  in  too  many  instances. 

(3)  Dressing,  which  consists  in  knocking  off  and 
smoothing  imperfections  in  the  china  made  by  the  im- 
print of  the  support  upon  which  the  dish  rests  when  in 
the  kiln.  The  workers  usually  sit  on  low  boxes  surrounded 
by  piles  of  dishes  within  easy  reach.  They  can  work 
rapidly  this  way,  but  their  positions  are  often  very  un- 
comfortable. 

(4)  Sorting,  or  selecting  the  perfect  pieces  and  arrang- 

80 


WOMEN   IN    NEW  JERSEY  TOWNS 

ing  them  according  to  shape  and  size  for  packing.  It  will 
be  seen  that  such  tasks  as  have  been  outlined  are  physi- 
cally hard  rather  than  nerve-wearing. 

It  is  true  that  certain  unhealthful  conditions  prevail  in 
most  potteries,  and  employers  recognize  their  existence 
and  attempt  to  excuse  them  on  the  ground  of  "  conditions 
peculiar  to  the  industry."  There  will  be  dust,  unless 
proper  devices  for  carrying  it  off  are  installed,  and  it  is 
said  that  even  such  devices  are  not  entirely  satisfac- 
tory. In  addition  to  this,  some  workers  are  constantly 
subjected  to  changes  in  temperature,  while  others  stand 
in  wet  clay  throughout  the  day.  Occasionally  girls  wear 
overshoes,  but  those  are  uncomfortable  at  best.  The  same 
conditions  prevail  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania ;  and  in  the 
establishment  where  the  five-hundred-dollar  vase  of  rare 
beauty  is  made  there  is  liable  to  be  a  room,  cold,  damp, 
and  dust-laden,  where  slatternly  girls  are  molding 
clay  and  fattening  the  germs  of  disease.  This  is  only  the 
old  tale.  The  finished  product  gives  no  hint  of  the 
horrors  often  following  in  the  wake  of  the  processes  con- 
tributing to  its  beauty. 

The  wages  of  the  pottery  women  are  low,  only  an  in- 
ferior grade  of  skill  being  required  for  most  of  the  work. 
The  minimum  and  maximum  earnings  for  the  different 
processes  are  presented  here,  and  from  these  it  will  be 
evident  that  the  average  wage  in  all  does  not  much  exceed 
$6  a  week  when  there  is  no  slack  season. 

Dipping  yields  from  $4.50  to  $  6.00 

Cleaning  or  brushing  yields  from  4.00  to  7.00 

Dressing  yields  from  3.00  to  7.00 

Printing  and  transferring        yields  from  7.00  to  12.00 

Sorting  or  selecting  yields  from  4.50  to  6.00 

Gilding  yields  from  6.00  to  12.00 

G  81 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

Nature  was  most  generous  in  giving  New  Jersey  clay  and 
girls  for  the  potteries.  It  remains  for  man  in  return  to 
render  more  favorable  the  conditions  under  which  the 
latter  must  work  with  the  former.  It  may  be  said  that 
women  are  decreasing  in  this  trade  except  as  decorators. 
Man^s  greater  strength  is  found  more  desirable. 

Altogether  the  New  Jersey  investigation  covered  four 
cities  and  included  detailed  information  concerning  824 
individual  workers,  of  whom  722  were  unmarried.  Of 
this  number  460  were  Americans,  141  British,  18  Jewish, 
66  Italian,  64  German,  and  the  remaining  75  came  from 
seven  different  countries,  as  widely  remote  as  Greece  and 
Sweden.  Seventy-eight  per  cent  of  these  women  were 
under  twenty-five  years  of  age  and  only  9  per  cent  over 
thirty-five.  Forty-seven  per  cent  earned  less  than  ^7  a 
week,  when  work  was  constant,  while  87  per  cent  lived 
at  home.  This  does  not  mean  that  all  these  women  were 
merely  working  for  "pin  money.'^  The  great  majority  of 
them  helped  to  maintain  the  family.  It  was  found  that 
of  the  714  living  at  home,  657,  or  92  per  cent,  contributed 
to  family  support;  538  turned  all  their  wages  into  the 
general  fund;  and  only  22  of  the  entire  number  paid 
nothing  for  board  at  home,  and  apparently  had  all  they 
earned  to  spend  on  themselves. 

Fewer  than  half  of  these  women  worked  in  factories 
that  could  be  characterized  as  good,  while  fully  a  third 
worked  day  by  day  in  extremely  bad  places.  This  has 
reference  to  physical  rather  than  to  moral  conditions,  al- 
though unfavorable  physical  conditions  are  liable  to  bring 
about  unfortunate  developments  in  the  realm  of  morality. 

These  New  Jersey  workers  manifested  considerable  in- 
terest in  the  question  of  amusements,  and  when  asked  to 
state  their  favorite  form,  it  developed  that  dancing  took 

82 


WOMEN   IN    NEW  JERSEY  TOWNS 

first  place,  with  theater-going  a  close  second.  But  their 
interest  in  the  great  outdoors  was  slight,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that,  living  as  they  do  in  cities  of  moderate  size, 
they  could  easily  reach  the  open  country.  It  is  true  that 
their  hours  of  work  are  long,  from  seven  to  six  as  a  rule, 
and  there  is  little  daylight  left  in  which  to  enjoy  outdoor 
life.  The  evening,  therefore,  becomes  the  time  for  recrea- 
tion, and  evening  pastimes  must  be  accepted.  So  danchig 
and  theater -going  occupy  a  large  place  in  their  lives. 

Naturally  girls  earning  in  the  neighborhood  oi  $'j 
a  week  have  little  to  spend  on  pleasures,  so  they 
must  take  those  which  are  cheapest,  regardless  of  their 
worth.  The  younger  girls  maintained  that  men  friends 
took  them  out  at  night,  and  that  they  were  not  obliged  to 
spend  their  own  money.  This  is  undoubtedly  true,  but 
the  financial  abihty  of  the  men  friends  to  take  them  to 
high- class  entertainments  may  well  be  questioned. 

These  girls,  like  all  others,  crave  pleasure,  and  they 
should  have  it.  Good,  clean,  wholesome  fun  is  better  for 
them  after  their  monotonous  toil  than  instruction  in 
academic  subjects  can  ever  be.  The  wife  of  one  employer 
was  found  taking  a  very  vital  interest  in  the  young  women 
and  skilfully  devising  wholesome  pleasures  for  them.  Her 
work  seemed  to  be  appreciated. 

The  women  workers  of  this  state  need  first  of  all  better 
working  conditions,  and  employers  should  be  compelled 
to  provide  these.  If  there  are  special  hardships  inherent 
in  the  industry,  as  in  pottery,  every  known  device  for  the 
protection  of  the  girl  should  be  installed.  Twenty  years 
ago  certain  diseases  were  so  prevalent  in  this  industry 
that  they  were  made  the  subject  of  a  special  report  to  the 
State  Board  of  Health.  Improvements  have  been  made 
since  then,  but  even  now  rheumatism  and  diseases  of  the 

83 


WAGE-LEARNING   WOMEN 

respiratory  organs  are  all  too  prevalent.  Girls  are  too 
valuable  to  society  to  be  sacrificed  for  china. 

In  the  second  place,  the  women  need  higher  wages  to 
enable  them  to  get  a  reasonable  degree  of  comfort  out  of 
life.  Many  lack  efficiency,  it  is  true,  but  they  should  be 
given  an  opportunity  to  become  more  efficient  in  their 
special  tasks.  They  need  also  a  chance  to  gratify  their 
desire  for  social  intercourse.  They  must  be  helped  in 
this  by  philanthropically  disposed  people. 

Some  employers  are  honestly  endeavoring  to  improve 
conditions  where  they  can.  Considerable  betterment  work 
is  conducted,  and  some  of  it  seems  to  lack  the  objection- 
able paternalistic  features  so  often  accompanying  under- 
takings of  this  kind.  At  least  three  of  the  silk-mills  have 
employees'  benefit  societies  designed  to  furnish  funds  to 
cover  periods  of  sickness,  while  one  has  in  addition  to  this 
a  death  benefit.  The  dues  in  all  are  low.  For  instance, 
ten  cents  a  month  will  give  the  girl  ^2.35  a  week  during 
illness,  while  thirty  cents  will  yield  a  benefit  of  ^7.  One 
silk  factory  is  on  a  profit-sharing  basis. 

Several  potteries  maintain  lunch  rooms  for  their  workers, 
and  in  one  there  is  also  a  sick  benefit  and  burial  fund  as- 
sociation, organized  and  maintained  by  the  employees.  A 
member  to  be  entitled  to  benefits  must  show  that  the  dis- 
ability from  which  she  suffers  was  not  brought  on  by  her 
own  misconduct. 

These  undertakings,  however,  affect  only  a  few.  The 
great  mass  of  workers  still  remains  untouched  by  any 
special  beneficent  influence.  The  opportunity  is  a  rare 
one  for  any  group  wise  enough  to  meet  it  in  a  spirit  of 
fairness,  and  yet  with  a  determination  to  make  working 
life  more  desirable  and  more  profitable  in  every  way  for 
thousands  of  young  women. 

84 


CHAPTER  VI 
Women  Toilers  in  the  Middle  West 

It  is  the  purpose  here  to  show  something  of  the  condi- 
tions under  which  women  work  in  several  small  cities  in 
Iowa  and  Michigan,  as  these  states  were  among  those 
chosen  to  represent  the  section  so  long  dominantly  agri- 
cultural, but  now  developing  important  manufacturing  in- 
terests. The  census  for  1900  gives  Iowa  100,000  women 
in  gainful  occupations,  and  Michigan  but  25,000  more. 
Ehminating  women  in  the  professions  and  in  domestic 
service,  we  have  left  for  industrial  pursuits  only  about  half 
of  the  total  in  both  cases,  not  a  great  number,  it  is  true, 
but  relatively  very  important.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
the  entire  population  of  the  two  states  is  less  than  the  to- 
tal number  of  women  workers  in  the  whole  country. 

The  states  with  new  industrial  interests  should  profit 
by  the  experiences  of  older  sections,  and  avoid  certain 
unfortunate  conditions  that  have  proved  disastrous  to  the 
workers  and  to  society  as  a  whole.  Desirable  as  such 
enlightened  action  seems  to  be,  it  does  not  appear  to 
make  a  very  strong  appeal  to  those  who  are  engaged  in 
establishing  industrial  undertakings.  They  are  more  in- 
tent upon  building  up  business  than  upon  the  ethics  under- 
lying its  development.  This  has  been  the  history  of  indus- 
trial growth.  Each  state  in  turn  has  to  correct  its  own 
maladjustments,  as  they  become  conspicuous,  when  a  httle 
foresight  might  have  prevented  them  altogether.  The  two 
states  under  discussion  in  this  chapter  are  no  exception  to 
this  general  rule,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  story  presented. 

85 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

In  Iowa,  we  studied  thirty  establishments  in  three  cities, 
employing  in  the  neighborhood  of  2500  women,  and  some 
description  of  the  way  these  women  work  making  clothes 
and  buttons  and  beer  will  serve  to  show  that  industrial 
hardships  are  found  in  the  new  as  well  as  in  the  older 
and  more  crowded  cities. 

Passing  first  to  the  clothing  trade,  we  find  all  types  of 
garment  factories,  from  the  one  paying  $2  a  week  to  be- 
ginners and  exacting  fines  for  tardiness,  to  the  well-ordered 
place  where  the  young  girl  may  earn  about  $4  to  start 
with  on  the  piece-work  system.  Women  perform  the 
same  tasks  that  they  do  elsewhere  in  the  same  trade,  the 
only  point  of  interest  here  being  the  conditions  under  which 
they  perform  these  somewhat  monotonous  tasks. 

On  the  whole,  the  factories  seem  brighter  and  better 
ventilated  than  those  in  the  great  cities.  As  land  is 
cheaper  in  the  smaller  towns,  there  is  not  the  ever  present 
economic  necessity  for  crowding  buildings  so  close  as  to 
exclude  light  and  air  from  one  another.  Passenger  ele- 
vators, however,  are  rarely  found,  and  girls  are  obliged  to 
walk  up  four  and  even  five  flights  of  stairs  to  their  work. 
They  often  complain  of  this,  particularly  as  they  are  obliged 
to  go  out  at  noon,  since  lunch  rooms  are  rarely  provided 
by  employers.  In  the  smaller  cities,  it  is  quite  natural 
for  employees  to  go  home  to  lunch,  as  they  do  not  ordi- 
narily live  far  from  their  work.  Separate  toilets  are  usually 
provided  for  the  sexes,  but  dressing  rooms  are  found  only 
occasionally.  The  absence  of  dressing  rooms  does  not 
appear  to  work  much  hardship  from  the  girls*  point  of  view, 
although  the  custom  of  changing  street  clothes  for  work 
dress  is  general.  Even  in  places  where  there  are  dressing 
rooms  the  girls  prefer  to  hang  their  clothes  on  hooks  near 
their  machines,  and  change  them  in  the  factory,  regardless 

2>6 


WOMEN    TOILERS    IN   THE   WEST 

of  onlookers  of  both  sexes.  They  do  this,  probably  not  so 
much  because  they  are  immodest,  as  because  they  are  in- 
different ;  and  where  one  or  two  hundred  women  are  em- 
ployed, it  seems  more  convenient  to  them  for  each  to 
keep  her  clothes  apart  from  the  rest,  and  near  to  herself. 
Pleasant  retiring  rooms,  with  individual  lockers,  would 
probably  overcome  the  prejudice  in  favor  of  near-by  hooks, 
and  have  a  general  refining  influence. 

The  usual  working  day  is  nine  hours,  but  there  is  con- 
siderable freedom  allowed  employees  in  regard  to  time 
in  most  factories,  on  account  of  the  prevalence  of  the  piece 
system  of  payment.  The  girl  is  paid  for  the  amount  of 
work  she  turns  out.  While  the  privilege  of  working  at 
will  is  advantageous  in  not  holding  the  workers  to  a  defi- 
nite number  of  hours,  it  has  resulted  in  some  rather  seri- 
ous local  complications  which  are  deplored  by  those  who 
know  the  situation.  The  younger  and  more  frivolous  girls 
often  cease  work  early  in  the  afternoon  to  meet  men,  some- 
times questionable  characters,  in  the  parks,  and  return 
home  at  the  usual  closing  hour,  so  that  their  mothers  think 
they  have  been  at  work.  This  leniency  on  the  part  of 
employers  is  undoubtedly  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
work  is  not  urgent.  A  conspicuous  grievance  of  women 
in  eastern  cities  is  that  no  such  leniency  is  permitted, 
where,  even  when  there  is  no  work  for  the  girl  to  do,  she  is 
often  obhged  to  spend  her  time  in  the  factory  without  remu- 
neration, in  case  her  services  should  be  required.  The  free- 
dom in  regard  to  afternoon  hours  is,  however,  not  extended 
to  the  morning,  and  several  firms  systematically  dock  em- 
ployees a  half-day's  pay  when  they  arrive  later  than  half- 
past  seven.     These  factories  begin  work  at  seven. 

Western  women  seem  to  be  paid  somewhat  better  than 
their  New  York  sisters,  and  they  do  not  work  under  so 

87 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

severe  pressure.  The  deadening  effects  of  high  speed  are 
not  seen,  and  on  the  whole  the  girls  look  sturdy. 

The  next  industry  that  attracts  attention  is  button  mak- 
ing, and  in  one  town  that  is  an  important  center  the  great 
majority  of  the  working  women  are  engaged  in  this  in- 
dustry. The  factories  are  naturally  in  river  towns,  as  the 
buttons  are  made  from  river  shells.  Many  of  the  buildings 
are  old,  and  provide  only  the  poorest  accommodations  for 
the  employees. 

The  work  of  the  women  consists  in  grinding  buttons, 
sharpening  drills,  running  the  hand-machines  for  stamping 
patterns  on  buttons,  and  the  automatic  machines  for  cen- 
tering and  drilHng  and  sorting.  The  grinders  are  usually 
young  girls  of  fourteen  or  fifteen,  and  the  grinding  process 
consists  in  arranging  buttons  on  a  moving  belt  to  be 
smoothed  by  machinery.  The  shell  dust  is  thick  at  these 
machines  and  is  most  injurious  to  the  respiratory  organs. 

The  sorters  sit  at  window  tables  and  sort  buttons. 
This,  as  well  as  other  forms  of  work,  is  paid  by  the  piece. 
Sorting  is  much  more  desirable  than  grinding,  and,  be- 
cause of  the  difference,  the  sorters  feel  superior  to  those 
in  the  machine  rooms,  and  draw  a  rather  rigid  social  line. 

The  automatic  machines  for  centering  and  drilling  are 
provided  with  tubes  through  which  the  dust  is  carried  to 
the  factory  chimney,  but  the  grinding-machines  have  no 
such  appliances,  and  the  young  women  suffer  injury.  A 
little  ingenuity  could  certainly  overcome  this  difficulty. 

The  highest  wages  paid  are  satisfactory  enough,  but 
the  lowest  are  inadequate.  Some  of  the  sorters  earn  from 
^12  to  $14  a  week,  while  other  workers  of  experience 
make  only  ^6,  and  the  unskilled  girl  fares  much  worse. 
The  great  majority  have  homes  in  the  city,  but  girls  from 
the  country  round  about  are  frequently  attracted  by  reports 


WOMEN   TOILERS   IN   THE   WEST 

of  the  high  wages,  and  come  in  to  seek  employment.  They 
are  often  grievously  disappointed  when  they  find  that  they 
cannot  earn  over  ^3  or  ^4  at  first.  The  result  is  that  they 
either  go  home,  or  grow  discouraged,  and  drift  around 
looking  for  higher  wages,  and  finally  go  into  domestic  ser- 
vice, as  that  provides  at  least  a  home  over  and  above  the 
wage. 

The  button  workers  are  a  considerable  problem  in  the 
town,  but  the  people,  chiefly  through  religious  organiza- 
tions, are  trying  to  meet  their  needs. 

Women  are  entering  the  breweries  in  several  western 
states,  and  they  seem  to  be  employed  almost  entirely  as 
inspectors,  bottle  washers,  labelers,  and  wrappers.  In  a 
river  town  in  Iowa,  we  found  about  sixty  working  in  one 
establishment,  and  the  firm  had  been  employing  women 
for  seven  years. 

The  utilizing  of  women  in  this  particular  occupation 
seems  to  meet  with  severe  condemnation  in  some  quarters. 
It  is  feared  that  they  will  be  unduly  demoralized  by  famil- 
iarity with  drink  and  inevitable  contact  with  a  low  type  of 
men.  The  industry,  therefore,  assumes  a  local  importance 
out  of  proportion  to  its  numerical  rank.  A  few  hundred 
women  at  most  are  found,  but  the  tendency  is  toward  an 
increase.  Curiously  enough,  a  certain  closing  law^  re- 
sulted in  an  increased  number  of  women  in  the  breweries, 
owing  to  the  greater  consumption  of  bottled  beer,  and 
the  consequent  need  of  more  women  to  get  bottles  ready 
for  the  market.  One  brewery,  employing  thirty-eight 
women  in  1906,  had  sixty  during  the  summer  of  1907. 

Here  the  women  wear  a  blue  uniform  and  look  fairly 
neat.  They  work  all  day  and  nearly  every  evening  in 
summer.  Overtime  is  required  on  penalty  of  losing  one's 
1 1907. 

89 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

position.  The  regular  day's  work  is  from  seven  in  the 
morning  until  noon,  and  from  one  until  five.  If  the 
employees  are  needed  until  eight  in  the  evening,  they 
work  until  that  hour  without  supper ;  if  they  are  to  work 
until  ten,  they  stop  from  five  to  six.  These  long  days 
carry  with  them  no  chance  for  vacation  in  the  summer,  as 
that  is  the  busy  season,  but  they  are  laid  off  in  squads  in 
the  winter,  for  two  weeks  or  a  month  each.  This  simply 
means  a  period  of  unemployment  which  is  not  welcomed. 
The  women  who  inspect  the  beer  and  wash  bottles  stand 
all  day.  The  work  of  inspecting  is  said  to  be  injurious 
to  the  eyes,  since  the  inspector  has  to  use  artificial  light, 
owing  to  the  location  of  inspecting  rooms,  and  this  hght 
is  often  insufficient.  Bottle  washing  offers  steady  em- 
ployment, and  those  who  engage  in  it  can  always  count 
on  work  ;  but  not  so  with  the  labelers.  The  men  receive 
double  time  payment  for  overtime  work  because  they 
belong  to  the  union,  while  the  girls,  who  are  unorganized, 
and  must  remain  so  according  to  a  company  edict,  get 
only  the  regular  rate,  which  is  6|-,  8^,  ii,  or  12  cents  an 
hour  according  to  the  sort  of  work.  The  highest  wage 
received  by  the  women  is  ^i.io  a  day,  except  in  the  case 
of  forewomen,  who  receive  more.  The  usual  wage,  how- 
ever, falls  below  this.  Labelers  receive  75  cents,  and 
bottle  washers  ^i  a  day.  In  the  face  of  public  dis- 
approval of  brewery  work  for  girls,  many  mothers  say 
that  they  consider  it  more  desirable  for  their  daughters 
than  the  overall  factories  with  their  laxity  in  regard  to 
afternoon  hours.  The  mother's  interest  in  the  daughter's 
work  is  noticeable  in  the  towns  in  the  Middle  West,  and 
it  is  a  most  encouraging  feature,  as  many  of  the  girls  five 
at  home,  and  so  are  influenced  by  the  parents'  attitude. 
The  brewery  girls  are  mainly  from  German  famihes  who 

90 


WOMEN   TOILERS   IN   THE   WEST 

are  not  concerned  with  the  question  of  the  demoraliz- 
ing effect  of  contact  with  beer  and  beer  drinkers  in  the 
brewing  estabHshments. 

In  Michigan,  thread  and  clothing  occupied  our  atten- 
tion, and  in  the  towns  selected  there  were  altogether 
only  about  2000  women  in  the  two  industries.  It  was 
noticeable  that  the  demand  for  workers  exceeded  the 
local  supply  and  employers  advertised  freely  throughout 
the  state  for  the  needed  help.  Yet  in  spite  of  special 
inducements,  it  is  difficult  to  secure  an  adequate  number 
of  workers.  This  scarcity  of  labor  may  account  for  the 
independence  observed  in  many  of  the  women.  Yet  this 
independence  does  not  appear  to  result  in  perceptibly 
higher  wages,  save  in  a  few  instances. 

The  thread^  workers  were  studied  in  so-called  model 
factories,  and  the  companies'  claim  to  superiority  in  cer- 
tain directions  seems  warranted.  Working  conditions  are 
apparently  as  good  as  they  can  be,  and  there  is  a  sincere 
effort  to  further  the  comfort  and  welfare  of  the  workers. 
All  the  mills  are  lined  with  windows  so  that  there  is 
abundance  of  light;  the  aisles  are  broad  and  un- 
obstructed ;  and,  except  in  rooms  where  machinery  re- 
quires great' quantities  of  oil,  everything  is  clean.  The 
machines  are  well  protected,  and,  as  they  are  tended  by 
machinists,  the  girls  have  no  responsibility  in  regard  to 
them.  Bobbin  boys  carry  the  spools  back  and  forth 
and  do  all  the  heavy  work. 

The  only  unfortunate  conditions  observed  in  the  work- 
rooms were  the  long  hours  and  the  noise,  which  is 
deafening  in  the  weaving  room.  There  one  feels  the  jar 
of  the  machines  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  other  depart- 
ments.    Many  of  the  girls  say  that  they  become  accus- 

1  Silk  thread  and  silk  fabrics. 
91 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

tomed  to  the  noise  in  about  two  weeks,  and  it  has  no 
further  effect  on  them,  while  others  insist  that  it  gradually 
undermines  the  nervous  system  and  dulls  the  sense  of 
hearing.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  strain  of  the  long 
hours  tends  to  increase  the  effect  of  the  noise. 

If  the  working  day  were  shorter,  and  if  the  employees 
were  not  required  to  expend  their  energy  up  to  the  point  of 
exhaustion,  they  would  have  more  strength  to  withstand 
the  nerve-racking  noise.  The  whistles  blow  at  a  quarter 
past  six  in  the  morning,  and  the  mills  shut  down  in  the 
evening  at  six.  There  is  an  hour  allowed  at  noon,  mak- 
ing the  work  day  ten  hours  and  forty-five  minutes  long, 
without  overtime,  which  is  occasionally  required.  The 
rules  in  regard  to  tardiness  are  strict.  An  employee  who 
is  late  when  her  department  is  busy  is  likely  to  be  locked 
out  for  half  a  day,  and  the  time-workers  are  docked  half 
an  hour  for  every  five  minutes'  tardiness.  The  mills  close 
on  Saturday  afternoons  throughout  the  year. 

The  spoolers  may  sit  at  their  work,  but  all  the  other 
operators  stand.  When  the  silk  ^^  runs  well,"  that  is, 
when  they  are  working  on  good  silk,  they  can  set  the 
machines  and  sit  down  while  a  reel  is  being  wound  or  a 
spool  covered,  but  when  the  silk  is  poor  they  are  on 
their  feet  constantly,  untanghng  it,  and  tying  it  where  it 
breaks. 

It  is  much  more  difficult  to  work  with  a  poor  quality 
of  silk  than  with  good,  and  employees  have  to  take  their 
chances  on  whatever  kind  is  given  them.  If  the  firm 
has  bought  a  good  grade,  the  labor  of  the  workers  is 
comparatively  easy,  and  their  wages  consequently  fairly 
high  ;  if  a  poor  grade  is  given  to  them,  they  are  expected 
to  work  the  same  number  of  hours,  although  the  fatigue 
is  much  greater  and  their  piece  rate  is  not  raised.  The 
92 


WOMEN   TOILERS   IN   THE   WEST 

girls  say  that  when  the  silk  is  particularly  bad,  they  grow 
so  nervous  that  they  often  have  hysterics.  One  woman 
testified  that  one  day  she  had  worked  from  eight  o'clock 
to  a  quarter  of  eleven,  and  in  the  two  hours  and  three- 
quarters  had  made  only  4^  cents,  and  this  because  of  the 
poor  quaHty  of  silk  furnished. 

Some  of  the  women  have  been  working  in  the  mills 
for  twenty  years.  They  are  loyal  to  their  employers,  and 
seem  to  appreciate  their  many  advantages,  but  when 
talking  about  wages  they  smile  bitterly,  and  say  that  after 
so  long  a  time  they  are  able  to  earn  at  most  only  ^7.50 
or  $8  a  week.  The  lowest  wage  found  was  ^2.50  a  week, 
paid  in  one  instance  to  a  girl  of  seventeen,  and  again  to 
one  of  fifteen,  both  living  in  a  corporation  boarding-house 
at  a  cost  of  $2  a  week  each;  the  highest  was  ^11.25, 
earned  by  a  girl  of  seventeen,  who  paid  the  same  sum  as 
the  others  for  board.  Both  cases  are  unusual.  The 
majority  report  earnings  between  ^5.50  and  ^7.50  a  week, 
with  fairly  regular  employment. 

Many  workers  in  these  mills  come  from  the  surrounding 
farms  and  villages,  and  as  it  is  difficult  for  them  to  find 
accommodation  in  town,  one  of  the  companies  operates  two 
boarding-houses  for  their  convenience.  One  is  a  new 
building  of  pressed  brick  and  terra-cotta  —  the  finest  res- 
idence in  the  town ;  the  other  is  much  older  but  home- 
like, equipped  with  the  best  modern  plumbing  and  health- 
ful and  pleasant  in  every  way.  Both  have  beautiful  lawns  ; 
the  older  one,  especially,  is  shaded  by  large  old  trees  and 
shrubs  and  has  a  fine  flower  garden.  Each  house  contains 
two  well-furnished  parlors,  and  a  small  library  and  reading 
room.  The  bedrooms  are  not  large,  but  large  enough  to 
be  comfortable  and  pretty.     Two  girls  occupy  a  room. 

The  two  houses,  with  an  annex,  accommodate  200  girls 
93 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

for  from  $2  to  $2.40  a  week.  The  residents  have  certain 
privileges  which  they  value  greatly,  such  as  the  free  use  of 
a  well-equipped  laundry;  but  there  are  also  some  re- 
strictions which,  on  the  whole,  they  view  quite  philo- 
sophically. A  rigidly  enforced  house  rule  is  that  all  girls 
must  be  in  by  half-past  m'^e  at  night,  unless  granted  a  pass 
by  the  matron.  But  as  there  is  a  great  dearth  of  evening 
amusements,  this  curtailment  of  Hberty  does  not  seem  to 
work  any  special  hardship.  Were  it  not  that  the  churches 
are  unusually  active,  the  place  would  be  in  a  state  of  social 
starvation.  Almost  all  the  mill  girls  go  to  church  and  are 
helpful  and  enthusiastic  in  the  varied  church  activities, 
but  several  said,  "  This  is  not  enough."  They  long  for 
diversion. 

This  mill  population  presents  a  picture  of  the  industrial 
life  of  middle-class  Americans  in  their  struggle  for  self- 
realization.  A  few  Canadians  from  across  the  border  are 
about  the  only  foreign-born  workers.  The  rest  are  Ameri- 
cans, of  German,  Jrish,  and  French  descent.  The  girls, 
as  has  been  said,  are  mainly  from  the  farms  and  small  towns 
in  the  central  part  of  the  state  and  many  have  a  high  school 
education.  They  would  lend  themselves  readily  to  any 
effort  to  broaden  their  horizon,  and  thus  present  a  very 
different  problem  from  that  of  the  New  Jersey  silk-workers, 
or  the  Massachusetts  thread-mill  operatives.  But  they 
grow  restless,  even  defiant  at  times,  over  the  ceaseless 
monotony  of  mechanical  operations.  These  girls  could 
work  well  in  some  organization  of  their  own,  which  would 
furnish  them  instruction  and  recreation.  This,  added  to 
the  interest  taken  by  employers,  would  counteract  the  more 
or  less  deadening  influence  of  a  small  town,  barren  of  moral 
and  intellectual  stimulus.  It  would  mean  new  life  for  a 
thousand  girls. 

94 


WOMEN   TOILERS   IN    THE   WEST 

The  makers  of  various  kinds  of  women's  clothing,  chiefly 
underwear,  were  interviewed  in  a  town  five  or  six  times 
larger  than  the  one  where,  the  silk  thread  is  made.  Here 
the  working  day  for  all  factories  is  from  6.30  a.m.  to  6.00 
P.M.,  when  a  Saturday  half-holiday  is  given;  when  it  is 
not,  shops  close  half  an  hour  earher.  It  has  long  been 
the  proud  boast  that  this  is  a  "  ten  cents  an  hour  "  town, 
but  at  least  one  manufacturer  admitted,  that,  with  slack 
seasons  and  fluctuating  piece  rates,  it  has  become  in  reality 
a  ^'  five  dollars  a  week  '^  town.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
younger  factory  girls  seldom  earn  more  than  ^4.50  a  week. 

The  demand  for  workers  in  the  clothing  trade  is  greater 
than  the  town  can  supply,  in  spite  of  the  manufacturers' 
assertion  that  almost  all  of  the  girls  live  at  home  and  work 
only  for  spending  money. 

One  is  led  to  doubt  the  statement,  however,  not  only 
because  it  does  not  seem  plausible,  but  because  there  are 
advertisements  in  the  papers  in  small  towns  all  over  the 
state  calling  for  girls  to  come  to  the  work  awaiting  them, 
and  offering  special  inducements.  There  are  no  company 
boarding-houses,  and  although  it  seems  as  if  every  house 
in  the  town  announced  "  furnished  rooms  "  for  rent,  board- 
ing is  becoming  a  problem  since  the  increased  cost  of 
living  has  raised  the  room  rent,  from  fifty  and  seventy-five 
cents,  to  ^i  and  $2  a  week.  Many  live  in  furnished 
rooms  and  do  "light  housekeeping,"  or  live  "out  of  a 
bag,"  as  one  woman  expressed  it,  which  means  that  they 
subsist  chiefly  on  cheap  and  unnutritious  bakery  stuff. 
Those  who  board  and  room  at  the  same  place  have  always 
paid  $2  or  $2.5oa  week,  but  the  rates  are  being  raised 
to  ^3,  ^3-50,  and  $^  in  most  of  the  larger  boarding- 
houses. 

The  town  itself  is  attractive.  Even  the  little  cheap  cot- 
95 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

tages  in  the  Polish  quarter  are  new  and  neat,  with  well- 
kept  grassy  lawns.  The  general  air  of  beauty  and  refine- 
ment has  had  its  effect  on  the  girls  in  the  factories. 
Like  the  silk  workers,  they  are  nearly  all  Americans,  born 
in  the  state  in  which  they  work.  There  are  a  few  Ameri- 
can-born Poles  who  speak  English  well,  and  bear  no 
resemblance  to  the  PoHsh  girls  working  in  the  clothing 
shops  of  Chicago.  The  Polish  immigrant  women  work 
in  the  bean  elevators,  and  do  not  go  into  the  factories. 
Here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  state,  one  finds  many  Canadians, 
but  of  a  very  different  type  from  their  French-speaking 
sisters  in  the  New  England  mills.  They  all  have  a  gram- 
mar school  education,  and  many  have  been  through  the 
high  schools,  so  that  they  are  on  a  par  with  the  Americans 
with  whom  they  work. 

The  clothing  workers  were  not  found  in  model  facto- 
ries ;  indeed,  sanitary  conditions  were  bad  in  several  in- 
stances. But  bad  ventilation  and  bad  odors  seem  to 
make  litde  or  no  impression  on  the  girls.  Their  attention 
is  riveted  on  the  strain  of  the  work  and  the  tendency  to 
cut  wage  rates.  They  assert  that,  while  the  rates  on  the 
various  processes  are  not  actually  reduced,  a  virtual  re- 
duction is  brought  about  by  the  custom  of  dividing  one 
piece  of  work  between  an  experienced  woman  and  a 
young  girl,  the  latter  being  given  all  the  easy  *^jobs,"  thus 
making  the  task  harder  for  the  older  woman,  and  her 
wages  lower.  An  example  of  this  is  furnished  by  a  woman 
who,  before  the  adoption  of  this  custom,  was  able  to  earn 
from  ^i2toSi4a  week,  but  now  finds  her  highest  rate  $g. 

It  is  not  unusual  to  find  women  performing  tasks  requir- 
ing great  strength,  as  well  as  endurance.  In  one  establish- 
ment where  all  the  pressing  is  done  by  two  women,  thirteen- 
pound  gas  irons  are  in  use,  and   the  women  press  ten 

96 


WOMEN   TOILERS   IN   THE  WEST 

hours  a  day.  One  woman  was  partially  paralyzed  as  a 
result  of  nervous  strain  and  unduly  hard  labor ;  the  other, 
buoyant  and  strong,  was  helping  her  husband  buy  a  home. 
The  struggling,  weary,  paralyzed  widow  looks  wonderingly 
at  her  sister  worker's  energy,  and  thinks  that  she  would 
gladly  live  in  a  rented  house,  if  only  she  had  some  one  to 
take  care  of  her. 

The  scarcity  of  female  labor  in  this  industry  seems  to 
give  women  workers  unusual  independence.  There  is 
always  a  demand  for  employees.  It  is  said  that  because 
of  this  fact  the  girls  know  that  their  demands  will  be  met, 
and  they  are  not  at  all  chary  about  making  them.  When 
the  long  corset  was  introduced,  one  girl  demanded  that 
her  piece  rate  be  raised  from  eight  to  ten  cents  per  dozen 
for  the  longer  seam.  The  foreman  explained  to  her  that 
while  it  required  more  work  and  more  cloth,  the  garment 
would  still  be  sold  at  the  old  price,  and  would  be  an 
actual  loss  to  the  firm  if  the  cost  of  labor  were  increased. 
She  replied  that  she  was  sorry  for  the  firm,  but  that  her 
rate  would  have  to  be  raised  if  she  remained.  The  rate 
was  raised,  although  on  this  particular  line  of  corsets 
there  was  no  extra  profit.  Non-union  girls  in  New  York 
or  Chicago  are  obliged  to  go  on  stitching  the  longer 
seam  at  the  old  rate  because  there  are  many  others  wait- 
ing to  take  their  places. 

The  intelligent  American  women  in  the  Middle  West 
could,  undoubtedly,  equalize  wages  by  a  little  coopera- 
tion. Employers  are  reasonable,  and  seem  to  take  a 
great  deal  of  interest  in  their  employees,  but  their  point 
of  view  in  regard  to  wages  is  not  that  of  the  girls,  nor  is  it 
always  that  of  the  community. 

The  average  sum  earned  in  the  clothing  shops  is  be- 
tween $6  and  ^7  a  week.  There  is  not  much  slack  time 
H  97 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

during  the  year,  and  living  expenses  are  low,  so  the  girls  are 
better  off  than  city  workers  in  the  same  industry. 

There  is  considerable  class  feeling  in  the  town,  and  the 
expression  "only  a  factory  girl"  is  frequently  heard. 
Some  of  the  girls  are  sensitive  and  shrink  from  the  social 
ostracism,  while  others  appear  to  find  it  quite  diverting 
that  their  old  schoolmates  in  more  favorable  circum- 
stances should  pass  them  by  as  strangers. 

The  small  industrial  communities  in  states  largely 
rural  offer  certain  advantages  to  the  worker  in  the  way 
of  decreased  cost  of  living  and  less  crowded  quarters,  but 
at  the  same  time  there  is  too  often  a  social  dreariness 
that  offsets  the  charm  of  fresh  air  and  grass  and  trees. 
The  girl  has  not  the  chance  for  self-improvement  that  the 
city  employee  has.  This  need  could  easily  be  met  by 
local  societies  or  the  extension  of  national  organizations. 
The  homogeneity  of  many  of  the  industrial  groups  in  the 
Middle  West  would  make  the  task  simple  enough.  In 
Iowa,  249  out  of  452  women  interviewed  were  making  use 
of  opportunities  to  study,  including  the  use  of  libraries. 
In  Michigan  the  proportion  was  103  out  of  194.  This 
is  a  pleasing  indication.  Recreational  facilities  are  sadly 
lacking  in  most  of  the  smaller  towns,  and  young  women 
need  relaxation  and  enjoyment  to  counteract  the  numb- 
ing effects  of  high  speed  and  long  hours.  They  should 
have  more  of  the  delights  of  youth  which  economic  in- 
dependence is  in  a  fair  way  to  wrest  from  them. 

This  is  the  time  to  direct  the  course  of  industrial  life  in 
sections  emerging  from  agriculturaUsm.  The  unfortunate 
developments  in  older  centers  should  be  avoided,  for 
girls  who  work  at  spindle  and  loom  and  stitching-machine 
must  be  saved  to  the  state. 


98 


CHAPTER  VII 

Hop  Picking  in  Oregon^ 

During  the  last  five  years,  hop  picking  has  furnished  a 
considerable  field  of  employment  to  women  throughout 
the  early  autumn  in  the  Pacific  Slope  states.  Formerly, 
the  picking  was  done  largely  by  the  family  and  neighbors, 
and  these,  in  turn,  as  the  industry  developed,  were  as- 
sisted, or  superseded,  by  Indians  and  the  Chinese.  This 
was  in  the  day  of  comparatively  small  fields.  But  a 
change  was  inevitable  when  the  acres  under  cultivation 
were  multiplied,  and  miles  of  trellises  indicated  the  ex- 
tent of  the  crops  to  be  harvested.  Thousands  of  workers 
are  needed  where  hundreds  sufficed  several  years  ago. 

The  suddenness  with  which  unattached  young  women 
appeared  in  the  big  fields  as  pickers  thrust  upon  earnest 
people  an  entirely  new  problem,  —  a  problem  of  sufficient 
local  importance  to  warrant  the  most  careful  study  of  at 
least  a  typical  large  field,  and  several  small  ones,  in  the 
section  ranking  first  in  output. 

Of  the  hop-raising  states,  Oregon  is  the  most  important, 
producing  in  1907  about  25,000,000  pounds  to  be  com- 
pared with  18,000,000  for  California,  10,000,000  for  New 
York  and  8,000,000  for  Washington.  Before  1850,  almost 
all  the  hops  produced  in  the  United  States  were  raised  in 
New  England.  During  the  next  forty  years.  New  York 
produced  more  than  all  the  other  states  combined.  Now 
the  palm  goes  to  the  Pacific  coast  country,  which  has  to- 
day 40,000  acres  under  hops.     A  generation  ago  it  had 

1  This  chapter  appeared,  in  slightly  different  form,  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Sociology,  July,  1909. 

99 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

fewer  than  2000.  Scarcity  of  labor,  prohibitionist  agitation, 
and  worn-out  soil  combined  to  render  hop  growing  in 
New  York  unprofitable.  The  unfertilized  soil  of  Oregon 
will  yield  twice  as  many  pounds  to  the  acre  as  the  New 
York  earth  can,  aided  by  much  fertilization. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  no  studies  of  hop-pickers  had 
been  made  previously  to  our  undertaking,  and  the  im- 
possibility of  getting  information  through  ordinary 
channels,  it  seemed  necessary  to  depart  from  the  usual 
methods  of  inquiry  adopted  by  investigators,  and  resort 
to  the  way  traveled  occasionally  by  journalists  in  their 
quest  for  a  story.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  Paul 
Gohre  ^  and  Frau  Dr.  Minna  Wettstein-Adelt  ^  in  Germany 
and  Professor  Walter  Wyckoff^  in  our  own  country  in- 
dorsed the  value  of  the  hardships  of  self-imposed  toil,  for 
longer  or  shorter  periods,  in  order  to  learn  more  about 
the  workers  than  could  otherwise  be  learned.  The  length 
of  time  required  to  discover  the  facts  sought  must  depend 
upon  the  nature  of  the  labor.  Where  freedom  and  in- 
timacy prevail,  as  they  do  among  the  hop-pickers,  one 
can  learn  more  in  a  few  days  than  in  as  many  weeks  in 
an  industry  characterized  by  minute  division  of  labor,  and 
a  high  degree  of  managerial  organization. 

Having  in  mind  the  situation  that  has  been  suggested, 
I  *  decided  to  go  myself  to  the  Far  West  and  join  in  the 
life  and  labor  of  the  pickers. 

1  •*  Three  Months  in  a  Workshop,"  1895. 

2"3^Monate  Fabrik-Arbeiterin,"  1897. 

8  "  The  Workers,"  1898. 

*  As  evidence  of  seriousness  of  purpose  and  experience  in  enduring 
toil,  the  reader  is  referred  to  my  earlier  first-hand  studies  of  working 
women  as  follows : 

"  Two  Weeks  in  Department  Stores,"  American  Journal  of  Sociology  ^ 
May,  1899,  ^^d  '*  The  Sweatshop  in  Summer,"  American  Journal  of 
Sociology,  November,  1903. 

100 


HOP   PICKING   IN   OREGON 

I  arrived  in  Portland  a  few  days  before  the  opening  of 
the  season,  which  is  about  the  first  of  September,  and 
began  to  look  for  work.  I  eagerly  scanned  the  advertis- 
ing columns  of  the  daily  papers  to  see  if  more  pickers 
were  needed.  My  quest  was  soon  rewarded,  for  I  found 
numerous  advertisements  caUing  for  help  in  the  fields,  as, 
for  example  : 

WANTED  —  looo  hop-pickers  to  pick  624  acres  of  hops;  big 
crop;  largest  and  best  equipped  hop  yard  in  Oregon;  all  on  trellis 
wire;  perfect  accommodations;  grocery  store,  bakery,  butcher  shop, 
barber  shop,  dancing  pavilion  50  x  150  feet,  telephone,  physician, 
beautiful  camping  ground,  3-acre  bathing  pool,  restaurant,  provi- 
sions sold  at  Portland  prices.  We  pay  ^i.io  per  100  pounds  ;  re- 
duced excursion  rates  on  our  special  train.  For  particulars  apply 
to . 

HOP-PICKERS   wanted  —  We   pay   50  cents  per  box,  camp 

shacks  free  ;   will  be  at  the Hotel,  August  25  till  September  3, 

to  sell  round-trip  tickets  to Oregon.     ,  grower. 

WANTED  —  Hop-pickers  for  my  yard  at Ore. ;    pay  50 

cents  per  box  ;  will  be  at Hotel,  August  25  till  September  I. 

HOP-PICKERS  —  Good  camp  ground,  store,  plenty  wood,  pay 
50  cents  per  box;   55  acres.     Inquire . 

A  rather  unusual  kind  was  the  following,  which  appeared 
in  several  country  newspapers  : 

WANTED —  1000  pickers  for Hop  Field, .      We  pay 

;S5i.io  per  100  pounds.  Perfect  accommodations,  good  food  at  city 
prices,  free  whiskey,  dance  five  nights  in  the  week,  evangelists  on 
Sunday,  and  a  h of  a  time. 

This  proved  most  alluring  and  showed  the  cosmopoli- 
tanism of  the  yard.  All  tastes  were  considered.  It, 
of  course,  captured  me,  as  it  did  many  another  !  I  pre- 
sented myself  at  the  Portland  office  of  what  is  said  to 

lOI 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

be  the  largest  hop  field  in  the  world  and  asked  for  em- 
ployment. I  was  engaged  on  the  spot,  and  agreed  to 
start  the  next  morning  at  eight  on  a  special  train  known 
as  the  "  Hop  Special."  With  a  parting  warning  to  be  on 
time,  the  man  in  charge  handed  me  my  round-trip  ticket, 
for  which  I  paid  ^2.60,  which  was  a  little  more  than  one 
fare. 

I  was  at  the  Union  Station  the  following  morning  by 
half-past  seven  and  found  a  motley  assortment  of  people 
—  my  companions-to-be — all  waiting  for  the  ^^  Special." 
There  were  men  and  women  and  children,  scores  and 
scores  of  them  belonging  to  family  groups,  and  in  addition, 
several  hundred  young  men  and  women  off  for  a  lark  with 
a  chance  to  make  some  money.  Many  of  the  famihes 
were  from  the  country,  one  woman  having  come  a  dis- 
tance of  200  miles  with  seven  children  ranging  in  age 
from  two  to  fifteen  years.  The  other  class,  the  unattached 
men  and  women,  was  mainly  the  city's  floating,  working 
population. 

It  was  a  picturesque  gathering,  with  an  air  of  expect- 
ancy about  it.  There  was  to  be  at  least  a  change  of  oc- 
cupation. The  weary  mother  from  the  farm  would  have 
the  less  onerous  camp  Hfe,  and  an  opportunity  to  make 
some  money  in  the  field ;  the  clerks  and  factory  work- 
ers and  servant  girls  were  looking  forward  to  freedom 
and  a  chance  to  form  new  social  ties.  It  was  a  funny- 
looking  crowd  as  to  clothes,  —  from  the  somber,  old- 
fashioned,  misshapen  garments  of  the  country  people,  to 
the  rather  loud  trappings  of  the  city  girls.  With  these, 
there  was  a  decided  effort  to  be  "  smart,"  and  gay-colored 
sweaters,  outing  hats,  and  floating  veils  were  much  in 
evidence.     And  everybody  was  chewing  gum ! 

After  much  delay,  and  picture-taking,  and  swearing,  we 
102 


HOP   PICKING   IN   OREGON 

were  loaded  on  the  train,  —  800  of  us  in  twelve  cars,  — 
and  started  for  the  field,  eighty-one  miles  away.  The 
journey  was  a  memorable  one,  to  me  at  least.  It  was 
pandemonium  let  loose  ;  men  and  boys  smoked  pipes 
and  cigarettes,  and  drank  whisky  from  bottles  they 
carried  with  them ;  old  men  passed  flasks  to  young  boys, 
with  voices  still  shrill,  and  they  eagerly  quaffed  ;  children 
laughed  and  cried  in  turn  according  as  they  got  what 
they  wanted  or  the  reverse,  while  young  men  and  maid- 
ens were  growing  intimate  at  an  astonishingly  rapid  rate ; 
and,  adding  to  the  din,  were  the  venders  of  *^  cracker- 
jack  "  and  ham  sandwiches.  It  all  had  a  weird  fascination 
for  me  as  I  traveled  about  from  car  to  car  ostensibly 
looking  for  friends. 

At  every  stop,  and  the  stops  were  many  through  that 
farming  country  with  its  single  track,  young  men  fairly 
hurled  themselves  out  of  the  cars  and  into  the  near-by 
orchards  and  gathered  with  a  free  hand  apples  and 
prunes,  in  spite  of  protests  from  the  owners.  These 
trophies  they  bore  back  to  the  train,  bushels  of  them, 
and  shared  with  the  girls.  Such  generosity  made  for 
good  fellowship,  and  by  the  time  we  reached  Inde- 
pendence, the  destination  of  our  train,  couples  were  pil- 
lowing their  heads  against  each  other.  But  all  this  was 
rudely  interfered  with  when  the  train  stopped.  We  had 
been  four  hours  making  the  journey  and  the  end  was  not  yet. 

The  next  step  was  to  transfer  us  to  great,  springless  hay- 
racks, or  wagons,  thirty  or  forty  to  each  one,  ranged 
along  the  sides  and  end,  with  feet  hanging  down,  while 
luggage  was  piled  up  in  the  middle.  The  order  went 
forth  that  men  must  walk,  while  women  and  children 
would  ride.  This  was  met  with  groans  and  shouts  of 
disapproval,  but  all  was  finally  amicably  settled,  and  the 
103 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

long,  grotesque  procession  started  on  its  six-mile  journey 
over  the  dusty  country  road.  It  did  end  at  last,  although 
I  had  my  doubts  at  times  if  it  ever  would.  But  we  were 
all  living  and  able  to  hobble  at  half-past  four  in  the  after- 
noon, when  we  arrived  at  a  dusty  hillside  at  the  edge  of 
a  wood  near  the  hop  field. 

1  had  had  nothing  to  eat  since  half-past  six  in  the 
morning,  so  with  the  others  I  made  a  raid  on  the  eating- 
house  without  delay.  Then  I  followed  the  rest  to  arrange 
for  my  accommodation.  I  engaged  a  bed  in  a  tent  at  a 
cost  of  ^  I  for  two  ^  for  the  season.  I  was  given  several 
yards  of  denim  and  told  to  make  a  tick,  then  go  to  a  barn 
and  fill  it  with  fresh  straw,  which  had  been  brought  there 
for  this  purpose.  This  straw  tick  was  put  on  the  ground 
in  one  corner  of  a  tent  to  be  occupied  by  ten  women. 

When  darkness  came,  we  were  a  weary  lot,  and  the 
rain  was  coming  down,  but  there  was  a  dance  scheduled 
in  the  big  hall  and  so  we  must  forget  our  weariness  and 
go.  Two  girls  in  my  tent  —  a  factory  worker  and  a  wait- 
ress—  were  putting  on  much  finery  for  the  event  and 
asked  me  to  go  with  them  so  I  would  get  acquainted.  I 
demurred  a  little  on  account  of  my  blue  calico  wrapper 
and  checked  apron,^  but  they  said, "  Don't  you  mind ; 
you'll  earn  some  money  in  the  hops,  and  can  buy  you 
some  new  clothes."  Thus  was  I  accepted,  and  I  felt 
that  here  at  least  was  true  democracy.  Sad  to  relate, 
the  dance  had  to  be  postponed,  for  it  was  found  that  the 
musical  instruments  had  not  arrived.  But  I  shall  never 
forget  that  Laura  and  "  Kid  "  were  willing  to  take  me  and 
introduce  me  to  their  friends. 

1 1  had  a  companion  with  me,  a  young  woman  from  the  University 
of  Oregon,  whom  I  had  engaged  as  an  assistant. 

2  The  usual  uniform  of  the  "  yard  "  and  my  only  outfit. 

104 


HOP   PICKING   IN   OREGON 

It  was  midnight  before  the  campers  were  finally  settled, 
and  some  of  them  had  to  sleep  out  in  the  rain  because 
they  could  not  find  their  belongings.  It  should  be  ex- 
plained that  the  -majority  took  their  own  simple  equip- 
ment, and  so  were  saved  the  expense  that  I  incurred. 
Pillowless  straw  beds  are  not  conducive  to  sleep,  espe- 
cially with  the  rain  coming  in  as  it  did  in  my  corner.  I 
opened  an  umbrella,  and  finally  slept,  only  to  dream  of 
icebergs.  The  cold  of  those  Oregon  nights  makes  me 
shudder  yet.  The  others  were  used  to  the  climate,  and 
so  were  more  comfortable  than  I. 

Sunday  was  a  busy  day  with  us.  We  had  to  finish 
getting  settled  in  the  morning,  and  this  gave  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  become  acquainted.  The  process  of 
making  friends  was  very  simple  in  the  unconventional 
atmosphere  of  camp  life,  and  by  noon  we  were  talking 
freely  about  the  money  we  hoped  to  make  in  the  yards  ^ 
in  the  next  few  days  or  weeks.  We  talked  less  readily 
about  our  past.  The  usual  question,  "  Have  you  ever 
picked  before  ?  "  was  put  to  me,  and,  after  my  negative 
reply,  some  further  facts  seemed  to  be  expected,  so  I 
volunteered  the  information  that  I  had  been  doing  vari- 
ous things,  which  was  accepted  for  what  it  was  worth, 
and  the  matter  allowed  to  drop,  for,  as  one  woman  in 
our  tent  said,  with  a  knowing  nod,  "  We's  all  done  things 
we  doesn't  care  to  tell  about."  Again  the  democracy  of 
the  hop  field  triumphed,  and  each  stranger  was  taken  on 
her  merits,  regardless  of  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

In  the  afternoon,  the  real  business  of  the  season  began, 
—  the  registration  of  pickers,  and  their  assignment  to 

1  It  may  be  explained  here  that  technically  the  entire  acreage  is  called 
a  "  field,"  while  the  subdivisions  for  the  purpose  of  work  are  known  as 
"  yards."    The  words  are  often  used  interchangeably,  however. 

105 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

yards  and  companies.  That  was  an  experience  upon 
which  I  look  back  with  horror.  The  boss  seated  himself 
in  a  narrow  doorway  and  ordered  the  crowd  to  get  in 
line.  There  were  in  all  about  a  thousand  people  on  the 
grounds,  including  those  who  had  come  in  from  the  sur- 
rounding country,  so  the  line  soon  became  a  sweating, 
swearing  mob.  Men  crowded  girls  almost  to  suffocation, 
and  then,  repulsed,  replied  with  insulting  speech.  I  was 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  door  when  registration 
opened.  In  half  an  hour,  I  was  fully  twenty  feet  away, 
with  a  great  wall  of  human  beings  in  front  of  me.  This, 
plainly,  was  no  time  for  politeness ;  the  fight  for  first  place 
there  would  put  a  bargain-counter  crush  to  shame,  and 
make  a  football  hero  look  to  his  laurels.  The  race  was 
not  to  the  strong,  but  to  the  canny.  Gay  girls  soon  began 
to  pay  toll  in  kisses  or  promises  and  were  shoved  up 
ahead.  I  was  beaten  about  for  over  two  hours,  and  I 
saw  women  grow  dizzy  and  faint  and  drop  out.  I  became 
so  interested  in  the  spectacle  that  I  lost  sight  of  the  ob- 
jective point,  and,  that  I  procured  a  number  before  dark, 
was  due  to  the  dogged  persistence  of  one  of  my  new 
friends,  who  handed  in  my  name  and  obtained  for  me 
the  coveted  ribbon  badge  stating  that  my  number  was 
185  in  yard  B,  Company  4.  There  was  a  different  color 
for  each  yard.  Mine  was  pink,  and  I  pinned  it  on  with 
pride.  Ordinary  foresight  would  have  prevented  the  hor- 
rors of  that  afternoon.  It  would  have  been  so  easy  to 
have  two  registration  booths,  one  for  the  men  and  the 
other  for  the  women. 

The  next  important  event  of  the  day  was  the  evening 

service  in  the  big  dance  hall  conducted  by  the  promised 

evangelist.     Practically  everybody  on  the  ground  turned 

out  to   the  stereopticon   lecture   on   the  "Parables  of 

106 


HOP   PICKING  IN   OREGON 

Jesus."  As  many  said  at  the  door,  "We'll  sample  it." 
The  music  seemed  to  meet  with  approval,  but  when  the 
minister  commenced  offering  a  stereotyped  prayer  he  was 
greeted  with  "  Cut  it  out,"  and  "To  the  timber."  He  did 
neither,  and  then  followed  a  stampede  for  the  door  by 
fully  two-thirds  of  the  men  present.  The  rest  of  the 
audience  engaged  in  conversation.  The  crowd  saun- 
tered in  to  hear  the  next  piece  of  music,  but  when  the 
sermon  began,  it  grew  restive  and  soon  voiced  its  disap- 
proval in  no  uncertain  terms.  I  was  back  near  the  door 
and  could  see  that  the  speaker  was  laboring  under  great 
difficulties.  The  hall  was  very  large,  and  the  acoustic 
properties  as  bad  as  they  could  possibly  be,  and  his  lan- 
tern was  sputtering.  But  worse  than  all  this  was  his  in- 
ability to  "get  next "  to  the  situation,  to  use  the  pickers' 
phrase.  The  parables  of  Jesus  should  prove  interesting 
to  every  one;  but  that  crowd  objected  to  the  lingo  of  the 
pulpit.  And  then  they  could  not  see  the  whole  "show," 
for  the  speaker  was  in  front  of  the  canvas.  People  in  my 
neighborhood  swore  and  laughed  and  yelled,  but  to  no 
avail.  When  I  suggested  that  some  of  us  tell  the  minis- 
ter to  move,  a  heated  discussion  followed  which  ended 
in  a  challenge  to  me.  They  were  of  one  accord  that  I 
"dassent  do  it."  This  acted  as  a  spur,  and  she  of  the  blue 
caHco  wrapper  and  checked  apron  called  out,  "  Get  over 
to  one  side,  please."  The  speaker  fairly  leaped  over, 
from  the  suddenness  of  the  request,  and  the  daring  one 
was  congratulated  in  such  terms  as  these :  "  Gee,  you're 
smarter  than  you  look,^'  "You  kin  have  me  for  the  askin'," 
"I'll  weigh  your  hops  heavy  to-morrow;"  this  and  more 
from  the  men ;  from  the  women  around  me,  one  and  all, 
"Weren't  you  scared?"  in  awestruck  tones,  and  I  said 
truly, "  Yes.'* 

107 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

It  was  a  hard  audience  for  any  speaker  to  satisfy,  but 
there  was  a  remarkable  opportunity  for  a  man  of  power 
who  could  forget  that  he  was  a  clergyman  and  only  re- 
member that  he  was  a  human  being  with  a  message 
to  other  human  beings.  Well-fed  and  well-dressed  citi- 
zens, I  notice,  hear  without  outward  sign  of  distress  the 
platitudes  that  too  often  go  with  clerical  clothes,  but  not 
so  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  wage-earning  class. 
They  know  a  good  story  when  they  hear  it,  and  they 
know  a  good  "  show  "  when  they  see  it,  and  they  hate  to 
be  "  done." 

We  could  not  sleep  much  that  night,  for  men  were 
drinking  and  carousing  until  nearly  morning,  and  at  four, 
the  first  eager  pickers  were  astir,  for  the  real  work  was 
to  begin  on  Monday  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  was  Labor 
Day.  There  was  so  much  preliminary  arranging  to  be 
done  that  it  was  nine  o'clock  before  we  were  finally  started 
for  our  yards.  But  the  mere  picking  was  not  of  so  much 
importance  to  me.  I  wanted  to  learn  about  the  living 
conditions  so  far  as  young  women  were  concerned,  and  I 
was  learning  of  those  all  the  time.  It  was  a  delight,  how- 
ever, to  see  the  various  companies  form  and  march  oif  to 
victory,  for  every  one  expected  to  make  a  lot  of  money,  — 
from  $3  to  ^7  a  day  I  was  told,  when  I  engaged  work  in 
Portland. 

A  hop  field  is  a  beautiful  sight  with  its  harvest  of  blos- 
soms hanging  in  enticing  clusters  on  the  wire  trellises  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  feet  in  height.  When  we  reached  our 
division,  we  were  instructed  to  take  partners,  as  we  were 
to  pick  two  to  a  vine  ;  and  to  provide  ourselves  with  bas- 
kets, enormous  affairs,  designed  to  hold  twenty-five  pounds 
—  and  hops  are  very  light ;  and  a  canvas  bag  in  which 
to  empty  the  baskets  when  full.  Thus  equipped,  I  was 
io8 


HOP   PICKING   IN   OREGON 

initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  picking.  One  said, 
" Strip  the  vines,  leaves  and  all."  Another  said,  "Throw 
in  sand,  it  weighs  good."  But  the  voice  of  the  yard, 
master  came  loud  and  clear,  "  Pick  clean,  or  you  get  no 
money." 

Picking  hops  is  fascinating,  and  there  is  a  tradition  in 
Oregon  that  it  is  a  most  healthful  occupation,  but  it  is 
hard,  with  the  reaching,  and  stooping,  and  tramping  over 
the  rough  plowed  ground.  Then  the  air  is  thick  with 
pollen  which  is  supposed  to  be  health-giving,  but  it  choked 
me,  and  by  dinner-time  I  could  hardly  speak.  But  I 
had  picked  fifty-three  pounds,  according  to  the  weigher, 
and  got  a  coupon  entitHng  me  to  fifty-six  cents  in  cash. 
I  worked  about  two  hours  and  a  half,  because  I  had  to 
stop  at  half-past  eleven  to  go  up  to  the  restaurant  to  wait 
on  tables.  They  were  short  of  help  and  offered  free  meals 
to  girls  who  would  serve  an  hour.  As  the  cost  of  the  meal 
was  only  twenty  cents,  the  job  was  not  in  great  demand  : 
they  could  earn  more  in  the  field,  they  thought.  The 
woman  in  charge  of  the  dining  room  had  me  marked  from 
the  first  and  kept  asking  me  to  help.  P'inally  I  yielded, 
and  so  I  had  to  leave  the  field  before  the  others  to  get 
my  own  dinner.  I  was  paid  in  advance ;  I  would  not 
work  on  any  other  basis;  I  took  no  chances  on  getting  a 
meal  after  the  hungry  horde  was  fed.  The  twenty-cent 
meal  was  the  best  for  the  price  that  I  have  ever  seen,  but, 
in  order  to  show  its  superior  judgment  in  such  matters, 
the  crowd  complained  over  the  lack  of  pie.  They  told  me 
to  "  get  a  move  on  "  or  they  would  have  me  "  fired. "  At 
one  o'clock,  I  sat  down  with  a  girl  to  gloat  over  the  seventy- 
six  cents  I  had  earned  since  breakfast,  and  to  wonder  how 
long  one  could  endure  such  weariness,  when  the  manager 
of  the  dining  room  came  along  and  ordered  me  to  the 
109 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

kitchen  to  wash  dishes.  At  that  I  struck,  and  so  did  the 
girl  with  me,  and  we  loftily  "walked  out.'*  But  we  estab- 
lished the  principle  that  contracts  with  the  girls  must  be 
regarded,  if  meals  were  to  be  served. 

There  was  murmuring  that  day  among  the  pickers  be- 
cause they  could  not  make  "good"  money;  few,  if  any, 
earned  over  $2.  Clean  picking  was  regarded  as  a  great 
hardship.  Our  meals  and  bed  cost  about  seventy-five  cents 
a  day,  and  some  girls  did  not  make  enough  to  meet  that 
expense.  There  was  much  dissatisfaction,  too,  over  the 
fact  that  the  weighers  frequently  gave  the  young,  and 
pretty,  and  flirtatious  girls  ten  or  twelve  pounds  extra 
weight.  There  were  many  opportunities  in  the  field  for 
little  courtesies  of  the  kind,  and  the  young,  attractive  girl 
needed  much  wisdom  not  to  become  entangled  by  them. 
The  chivalrous  swain  could  always  make  excuses  to  pick 
in  the  admired  one's  basket  while  his  own  was  standing 
empty.  The  wire-men^  and  the  weighers  were  the  aris- 
tocrats of  the  company.  They  were  paid  by  the  day  and 
went  about  in  leisurely  fashion.  As  they  came  in  contact 
with  all  the  girls  in  their  divisions,  they  had  ample  oppor- 
tunity to  exercise  their  wiles. 

The  field,  filled  with  pickers,  was  an  interesting  sight. 
In  one  row  a  man  and  his  wife  picked  together  while 
small  children  crawled  around  in  the  dirt  at  their  feet ; 
over  a  little  was  a  woman  with  six  offspring  picking  in 
her  basket ;  just  beyond  was  a  giddy  girl  with  a  forward 
boy  she  met  on  the  train,  —  both  picking  fast  and  pass- 
ing cheap  compliments ;  away  to  the  right  was  a  red- 
cheeked  German  girl  crying  already  because  her  clumsy 
fingers  made  work  slow ;  near  her  were  two  bright-looking 

1  Men  who  let  down  the  wires  holding  the  vines.    When  we  wanted 
this  done,  we  called  out  "  Wire  down,"  and  finally  the  man  would  appear. 
IIO 


HOP   PICKING   IN   OREGON 

high  school  girls  eager  to  earn  money  for  clothes ;  not 
far  away  was  a  widow  of  nearly  fifty  with  her  aged 
mother,  making  small  headway  with  the  hops ;  I  taught 
them  what  I  had  learned,  and  then  things  went 
better. 

It  was  a  weary,  discouraged  crowd  that  left  the  yards 
the  first  night.  We  were  all  tired,  and  we  had  not  made 
as  much  money  as  we  had  hoped.  So  we  sat  around 
and  talked  in  the  early  evening,  and  later  we  gathered  in 
the  big  tent  and  had  an  impromptu  concert,  which 
cheered  us  all.  This  tent  is  deserving  of  more  than  pass- 
ing mention  inasmuch  as  it  represented  the  crystalliza- 
tion of  a  desire  to  improve  social  conditions  in  the  field. 
The  very  progressive  body  of  women  comprising  the 
Oregon  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  desired 
to  do  what  was  possible  to  render  hop  picking  in  a 
big  public  field  more  respectable  than  it  is  usually 
considered,  and  for  the  reason  that  hundreds  of  young 
women  in  the  state  need  to  avail  themselves  of  its 
earnings,  but  are  sometimes  in  moral  peril  while  so 
doing. 

These  women  persuaded  the  owner  of  the  field  to  allow 
them  to  conduct  the  restaurant  on  the  grounds  and  main- 
tain a  social  center.  This  appealed  to  him  as  a  good 
business  proposition,  and  he  readily  acceded  to  it.  Thus 
it  came  about  that  a  beneficent  influence  was  introduced 
into  the  field  and  received  the  hearty  indorsement  of 
all  concerned. 

The  women  were  beset  with  difficulties  from  the  be- 
ginning, but  one  by  one  they  were  overcome,  owing 
chiefly  to  the  skillful  management  of  the  one  ^  in  charge 

1  Miss  Frances  Gage,  State  Secretary  of  Oregon  and  Washington. 
Ill 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

of  the  work.  Quite  as  interesting  to  me  as  the  picking 
itself  was  the  opportunity  to  study  this  experiment  in 
leavening  the  crowd.  One  Sunday  I  saw  a  woman  on 
the  kitchen  steps  stoning  prunes  to  lessen  the  burden  of 
the  cooks.  I  went  up  and  offered  to  help  her.  She  in- 
structed me  in  the  art,  and  while  the  work  progressed, 
entertained  me  with  stories  of  Turkey,  a  country  she  knew 
well.  A  day  or  two  later  she  settled  a  strike  in  the 
kitchen,  and  still  later  in  the  season,  when  the  cooks  failed 
to  live  up  to  their  agreement,  she  discharged  the  whole 
force  of  men,  telephoned  to  Portland  for  more  help,  and 
took  charge  of  the  culinary  department  till  relief  came. 
And  the  pickers  got  their  meals  on  time,  and  never  knew 
that  anything  had  happened  1 

This  woman,  who  stoned  prunes,  settled  strikes,  and 
acted  as  cook,  opened  up  the  big  tent  at  night,  and  in  an 
amazingly  short  time  mustered  the  "talent"  of  the  field 
about  her  and  gave  "  concerts "  that  made  everybody 
happy.  Undoubtedly,  such  an  influence  in  the  field  was 
good,  and  it  seems  desirable  that  this  work  should  con- 
tinue and  be  extended  to  all  the  large  ^  fields  where 
young  women  go  and  are  constantly  menaced  by  moral 
dangers  offset  by  no  restraining  influence.  The  "  Asso- 
ciation ladies"  became  quite  popular  with  the  girls, 
and  it  was  interesting  to  notice  how  quickly  some  of 
them  recognized  the  possibilities  of  "stylishness"  in 
such  chaperonage  ! 

The  second  day  of  picking  began  at  half-past  four  in 
the  dim  light  and  the  dew.  I  was  weary  beyond  expres- 
sion, for  I  had  been  helping  in  various  ways  until  late  the 

1  There  are  in  addition  many  "  family  yards  "  employing  "  neighbors," 
which  do  not  present  the  problems  of  the  large  field  with  its  varied  as- 
sortment of  pickers. 

112 


HOP   PICKING   IN   OREGON 

night  before.  Many  of  my  friends  were  tired,  too,  so  the 
picking  went  slowly  in  the  morning.  But  gossip  was 
rife,  for  we  were  getting  pretty  well  acquainted,  and  we 
already  knew  that  the  red-cheeked,  clumsy-fingered  Ger- 
man girl,  who  wept  as  she  picked  the  day  before,  had 
run  away  from  her  husband  and  baby,  and  was  not 
revehng  in  her  first  taste  of  economic  independence. 
This  and  much  more  was  talked  about  while  the  full 
clusters  were  stripped  into  the  baskets.  If  gossip 
had  been  a  marketable  commodity,  there  would  have 
been  no  cause  for  complaint  over  small  earnings  that 
morning. 

At  noon,  I  told  my  companions  that  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  to  go  back  to  Portland  that  day,  and  they  im- 
mediately supposed  it  was  because  I  was  not  making 
money  enough.  They  urged  me  to  stay,  saying  the  pick- 
ing would  be  better  later.  When  they  found  coaxing  of 
no  avail,  they  showed  their  friendliness  by  anxiously  ask- 
ing if  I  had  enough  money  to  take  me  home.  And  so  I 
went  away,  weary  of  body,  to  keep  an  appointment  very 
different  in  character  two  hundred  miles  from  there,  my 
identity  unsuspected.  Pickers  were  coming  and  going 
all  the  time,  so  my  departure  created  no  special  comment. 
Several  left  when  I  did,  saying  that  life  was  too  dull,  and 
others  wanted  to  try  their  fortunes  elsewhere.  They  were 
a  roving  lot,  often  looking  for  adventure. 

The  following  table  contains  some  facts  learned  from 
my  companions,  and  is  presented  here,  strange  mixture 
though  it  is,  to  illustrate  the  various  types  of  women  who 
answer  the  call  of  the  hop  field.  Later  comparisons 
served  to  verify  its  representative  character. 


113 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 


Name 

Nation- 
ality 

Age 

Home 

Permanent 
Occupation 

Reason  for  Coming 

N.J. 

American 

17 

Portland 

Student 

Health 

M.  D. 

American 

38 

Antelope 

Nurse 

Profitable  vacation 

L.  T. 

American 

22 

Portland 

Garment  maker 

Good  time 

A.  H. 

American 

20 

N.  Lewis 
River, 
Wash. 

Waitress 

Good  time 

E.  S. 

German 

17 

Portland 

Student 

To  make  money 

J.J. 

American 

15 

Portland 

Student 

Health 

M.  G. 

German 

50 

Salem 

Farmer's  wife 

Outing  for  family 

E.  M. 

German 

15 

Portland 

Student 

To  earn  money  for  clothes 

K.L. 

American 

26 

Portland 

Laundress 

To  make  all  she  could  by 
whatever  means 

M.J. 

American 

so 

Portland 

Nurse 

Health  and  rest 

G.  W. 

German 

17 

Portland 

Waitress 

To  make  money 

M.  B. 

American 

25 

Portland 

Waitress 

Change 

M.S. 

Swede 

45 

Astoria 

Housewife 

"Just  took  a  notion  to 

N.J. 

American 

17 

Portland 

Shop-girl 

come 
To  have  good  time 

N.  C. 

American 

17 

Portland 

Shop-girl 

To  have  good  time 

M.  B. 

German 

20 

Portland 

Housewife 

Ran  away  from  home 

A.  I. 

American 

18 

Portland 

Shop-girl  ^ 

To  have  a  change 

J.  L. 

American 

19 

Portland 

Factory  girl 

To  make  money 

L.  K. 

German 

22 

Portland 

Factory  girl 

To  have  outing 

K.  M. 

German 

21 

Portland 

Cook 

To  meet  nice  men 

A.  A. 

American 

16 

Portland 

Student 

To  earn  money 

J.  G. 

Swede 

21 

Portland 

Housewife 

To  have  a  change 

O.L. 

American 

IS 

Portland 

Student 

To  earn  money  for  clothes 

J.L. 

American 

40 

Astoria 

Housewife 

To  earn  money  for  chil- 
dren 

To  earn  money  for  chil- 
dren 

To  have  outing 

M.  M. 

American 

32 

Astoria 

Housewife 

G.  H. 

American 

25 

Portland 

Factory  girl 

J.G. 

German 

26 

Portland 

Shop-girl 

To  have  outing 

I  carried  away  from  the  hop  field  a  very  real  interest 
in  all  that  pertains  to  the  welfare  of  Oregon  pickers. 
Unquestionably,  certain  improvements  could  be  made  in 
the  organization  of  the  army  of  workers  and  in  the 
policing^  of  the  grounds.  Employers  should  be  urged  to 
make  these  changes,  and  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  ban- 
ish lawlessness.  It  is  true  they  meet  with  some  difficulties 
unknown  to  other  employers,  owing  to  the  character  of 
the  industry.  They  are  obliged  to  take  the  class  of  people 
they  can  get,  perhaps  to  a  greater  extent  than  others, 
and  many  of  these  are  likely  to  be  thriftless,  or  of  more 
or  less  vicious  habits,  and  thus  difficult  to  control.  This 
1  One  sheriff  v^^as  there  to  keep  that  riotous  throng  in  order. 
114 


HOP   PICKING   IN    OREGON 

,  is  particularly  true  of  the  young  men,  who,  in  turn,  exer- 
cise a  very  decided  influence  over  the  young  women. 

Changes  might  be  made  also  in  the  pastimes  of  the 
crowd.  Their  desire  for  amusement  after  a  monotonous 
day  in  the  field  is  legitimate,  and  should  be  gratified,  and 
the  experiment  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation would  seem  to  indicate  that  wholesome  entertain- 
ments would  be  appreciated  by  the  majority.  It  would 
be  unreasonable  to  expect  such  a  company  to  settle  down 
to  quiet  at  dark  satisfied  with  only  the  work.  Human 
beings  are  not  so  constituted,  for  frequently  the  longest 
days  of  monotonous  toil  seem  to  demand  nights  of  excit- 
ing pleasure.  The  factory  girl  in  the  city  will  dance  till 
daylight  after  a  hard  day's  work,  and  feel  that  only  with 
such  relaxation  is  life  worth  living.  How  much  more, 
then,  will  such  people  as  gather  in  a  hop  yard,  with  the 
spirit  of  an  outing  upon  them,  need  to  be  amused.  If 
nothing  better  be  provided,  the  saloon  and  the  dance  hall 
will  satisfy  the  craving. 

The  chief  needs  of  the  hop  fields,  then,  as  I  observed 
them,  are  better  organization  and  more  wholesome  recrea- 
tion. The  one  could  be  cared  for  by  the  owner,  the  other 
by  some  outside  group  interested  in  social  welfare,  and  I 
earnestly  hope  that  both  these  needs  will  be  met  in  the 
near  future. 

As  the  hop  season  returns,  I  shall  want  to  journey  out 
to  Oregon  to  don  the  calico  frock  and  apron,  with  the 
picker's  stout  gloves  and  neckerchief;  and  sleep  again  on 
the  bed  of  straw ;  and  rise  in  the  dawn  to  help  harvest  the 
blossoms ;  and  even  to  endure  again  the  cruel  weariness  it 
implies,  to  enjoy  the  true  democracy  of  the  motley  crowd 
and  to  watch  the  future  realization  of  betterment  eflbrts. 
Long  live  the  Oregon  Hop-pickers  ! 
115 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Fruit  Industries  in  Californu 

The  various  processes  connected  with  preparing  fruit 
for  the  market  afford  occupation  during  a  portion  of  the 
year  to  a  great  many  women  hving  in  or  near  the  fruit 
centers  of  California.  But  as  some  phases  of  this  work, 
like  hop  picking,  call  for  the  segregation  of  workers  in 
somewhat  isolated  places,  there  are  serious  problems, 
other  than  economic  ones,  forcing  themselves  upon  the 
consideration  of  local  agencies  trying  to  meet  the  needs 
of  young  women  wage-earners.  It  is  admittedly  easier  to 
carry  on  activities  for  the  more  or  less  permanent  body 
of  city  workers  employed  in  the  various  manufacturing 
communities  than  to  supply  the  social  needs  of  seasonal 
workers,  the  very  nature  of  whose  work  draws  them  out 
of  their  natural  group  setting.  But  this  very  fact  reveals 
the  opportunity  for  those  who  honestly  desire  to  improve 
industrial  environment.  The  business  manager  can  al- 
ways arrange  to  transport  people  and  equipment  to  re- 
mote points  in  order  to  carry  on  his  enterprise,  and  the 
powers  that  prey  upon  men  always  find  it  profitable,  in 
spite  of  inconvenience,  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  working 
groups. 

The  centers  chosen  for  the  study  of  the  conditions  of 
life  and  the  earnings  of  women  working  in  the  fruit  in- 
dustries were  Fresno  and  San  Jos^,  representing  as  they 
do  the  great  fruit-bearing  areas  of  the  state  of  California. 

In  many  of  the  vineyards  of  the  country  surrounding 
ii6 


FRUIT  INDUSTRIES   IN   CALIFORNIA 

Fresno  are  wineries  and  packing-houses  where  fruits  are 
prepared  for  the  market.  But  the  crops  are  often  sold 
unharvested  and  may  then  be  sent  to  different  points  to 
be  packed.  In  and  near  Fresno,  are  between  twenty  and 
twenty-five  houses  to  which  such  fruit  is  shipped.  Of 
these,  only  two  are  canneries ;  the  others  deal  in  raisins 
and  dried  fruits. 

A  conservative  estimate  of  the  number  of  women  work- 
ing in  these  places  at  the  height  of  the  season  as  given 
by  the  owner  of  the  largest  packing-house,  who  has  been 
in  the  business  fifteen  years,  is  1500,  including  Arme- 
nians, Russians,  Germans,  Mexicans,  Italians,  and  Ameri- 
cans. Some  600  of  these  worked  in  the  canneries  before 
the  dried  fruit  season  opened.  Of  the  whole  number, 
about  70  per  cent  are  foreign,  65  per  cent  married,  35  per 
cent  young  girls,  and  about  25  per  cent  of  these,  Americans. 

San  Jos6  is  the  center  of  a  great  prune  country,  pro- 
ducing one-half  of  the  entire  prune  crop  of  the  United 
States.  During  the  busy  season,  when  the  fruit  is  being 
put  on  the  market,  hundreds  of  women  are  needed. 
Their  work  consists  chiefly  in  "  facing "  the  different 
sized  boxes  with  the  various  grades  of  prunes.  In  order 
to  do  this,  the  fruit  is  put  into  scalding  water  for  a  few 
minutes  to  soften.  Before  it  has  cooled  each  prune 
is  flattened  out  as  large  as  possible  by  means  of  a  pecu- 
liar rolUng  motion,  then  laid  evenly  on  a  fancy  paper  lin- 
ing, sometimes  in  double  rows  with  a  "fencing"  around, 
and  sometimes  in  single  rows.  The  price  paid  for  this 
work  is  three  or  four  cents  a  box.  The  heat  and  constant 
pressure  often  cause  bhsters  and  calloused  thumbs,  women 
having  to  discontinue  work  on  this  account. 

In  some  of  the  houses,  stools  and  benches  are  furnished, 
and  may  be  used  when  desired,  but  many  prefer  to  stand, 
117 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

feeling  they  can  accomplish  more.  A  wage  of  ;?2  repre- 
sents a  hard  day's  toil  for  even  the  oldest  hand.  It  is 
no  wonder  the  packers  have  trouble  in  securing  enough 
help  in  the  rush  season,  for  in  addition  to  the  hard  labor 
extra  hands  are  taken  on  and  dropped  out  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  firm. 

Besides  the  dried-fruit  houses,  there  are  three  or  four 
canneries  in  San  Jos^.  Here,  hundreds  of  women  find 
occupation  for  three,  four,  or  five  months.  Their  work  is 
mostly  peeling  and  putting  the  fruit  in  cans,  although 
woman's  part  here  is  becoming  less  each  year,  as  peeling- 
and  canning-machines  are  now  being  used  by  some  firms, 
and  there  is  also  an  invention  for  labeling  the  cans,  both 
of  which  mechanical  devices  do  the  work  of  women. 

The  canneries  open  in  June,  with  cherries  in  San  Jose, 
but  not  much  before  the  beginning  of  August  in  Fresno. 
In  the  latter  place  they  close  in  September.  The  dried- 
fruit  packing  then  begins  and  lasts  steadily  through  No- 
vember in  all  the  houses,  and  even  into  January  in  those  that 
make  a  specialty  of  raisins.  The  canneries  in  San  Jos^  are 
in  operation  much  longer,  for  there  tomatoes  are  put  up, 
and  the  work  continues  until  the  end  of  October.  Even 
after  the  dried  fruit  as  a  whole  is  finished  there  are  short 
orders  throughout  the  winter,  so  that  it  is  sometimes  pos- 
sible for  one  to  secure  employment  most  of  the  year. 
On  the  face  of  it,  it  seems  as  if  there  were  work  in  some 
form  of  fruit  all  the  year.  The  packers  frequently  make 
this  statement,  but  probably  not  more  than  two  per  cent 
of  all  the  women  working  in  the  summer  could  get 
employment  after  the  rush  season  is  over. 

The  first  thing  one  hears  on  mentioning  fruit  is  the 
possibility  of  making  large  sums  in  the  canneries  and  dry- 
ing-houses. Every  one  tells  about  some  one  else  who 
ii8 


FRUIT   INDUSTRIES   IN    CALIFORNIA 

makes  $4.  or  ^5  a  day,  but  it  was  not  possible  to  find  any 
such  fortunate  individuals.  There  are,  however,  a  few 
workers  of  many  years'  standing  who  have  acquired  great 
speed  in  a  special  line,  and  these,  under  exceptional  con- 
ditions, that  is,  when  the  fruit  is  of  just  the  right  quality, 
are  able  to  make  from  ^3  to  $4  a  day  while  these  condi- 
tions last. 

Wages  depend  on  the  kind  of  fruit  and  the  rate  at 
which  it  comes  in.  Very  few  were  found  who  could  make 
more  than  ^1.75  a  day  at  canning  tomatoes,  while  these 
same  women  said  they  always  made  ^3  at  peaches.  It 
matters  not  what  the  work  is,  nor  how  different  it  appears 
to  an  outsider,  the  whole  system  of  payment  seems  to  be 
regulated  so  that  the  workers  get  about  the  same  amount. 
If  one  factory  pays  a  little  more  a  box,  other  things  are 
so  arranged  as  to  make  it,  in  the  end,  the  same  as  in  the 
place  paying  a  lower  rate.  Making  a  rough  estimate,  it 
seems  safe  to  say  that,  for  an  experienced  employee, 
who  is  strong  enough  to  work  steadily  and  who  has  the 
average  speed,  the  wage  at  the  end  of  the  season  would 
be  about  $2  a  day. 

The  work  in  fruit  is  almost  entirely  piece-work,  and  al- 
though the  average  daily  wage  may  be  about  the  same 
for  the  different  processes,  there  is  considerable  diversity 
in  the  plan  of  payment  and  the  labor  involved.  "  Fac- 
ing "  prunes  brings  three  cents  a  box,  making  possible  a 
daily  wage  from  75  cents  to  ^3  according  to  the  speed 
of  the  worker.  In  filling  cartons,  the  method  is  for  seven 
girls  to  work  at  a  table,  and  when  each  one  has  filled  a 
box  of  forty-eight  prunes,  the  table  is  credited  with  four- 
teen cents.  The  division  of  funds  is  made  later.  Much 
of  this  work  is  agreeable. 

Labor  in  the  canneries  is  likely  to  be  hard  and  un- 
119 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

pleasant.  In  many  places  women  are  not  allowed  to  sit, 
and  the  heat  and  steam  from  boiling  fruit  contribute 
to  make  the  workrooms  extremely  uncomfortable.  The 
floor  is  often  covered  with  a  thick  layer  of  slime,  and  al- 
though the  women  work  on  slightly  raised  platforms,  they 
nearly  all  find  it  necessary  to  wear  overshoes.  In  addi- 
tion to  this  discomfort,  their  fingers  blister  from  contact 
with  hot  fruit. 

The  rate  paid  for  preparing  tomatoes^  is  usually  two 
and  a  half  cents  a  pan.  If  a  woman  remains  a  whole 
season  she  is  paid  a  bonus  at  the  end,  which  makes  the 
rate  equal  to  three  cents  a  pan.  This,  of  course,  is  an 
inducement  to  the  worker  to  remain  in  the  same 
establishment.  FiUing  brings  20  cents  for  225  closely 
packed  cans,  and  12^  cents  for  250  not  so  well  filled.  A 
swift  worker  may  earn  from  $2  to  ^3  at  either  of  these 
processes.  Rates  vary  somewhat  with  different  kinds  of 
fruits ;  for  instance,  filling  cans  with  peaches  brings  1 1^ 
cents  an  hour,  some  companies  giving  a  bonus  of  10  per 
cent  if  the  worker  remains  the  season,  while  pitters  re- 
ceive 14  cents  an  hour.  The  rate  for  cutting  open  and 
peeling  peaches  is  20  cents  a  box  of  from  70  to  75 
pounds.  More  money  can  be  made  with  peaches  than 
with  pears,  because  the  latter  are  harder  to  peel. 

The  rate  for  packing  fresh  grapes  is  four  cents  a  crate 
of  33  pounds,  with  a  maximum  wage  of  ^3  a  day.  Six- 
teen girls  can  pack  960  crates  or  one  carload  of  grapes 
in  a  day.  Overtime  is  paid  for  in  one  vineyard  at  the 
rate  of  55  cents  for  two  hours  at  night  and  $2,6^  for  work 
on  Sunday. 

Fig  packing  employs  a  good  many  women.  The  figs 
are  left  on  the  trees  to  dry,  and  are  washed,  sorted,  and 

1  Included  with  fruit,  as  they  are  canned  in  the  same  establishments. 
120 


FRUIT   INDUSTRIES   IN   CALIFORNIA 

steamed  in  the  packing-houses.  One  can  learn  to  pack 
in  a  day,  and  the  usual  wage  is  one  cent  for  packing  a 
pound  and  a  half  brick,  or  3^  cents  for  a  box  of  four  pounds. 
The  daily  wage  varies  from  $1  to  ^4.  The  fig  season  is 
a  long  one,  as  there  are  many  tons  of  the  dried  fruit  which 
must  be  packed  in  bricks  and  boxes.  The  lye  used  in  the 
curing  process  is  most  injurious  to  the  hands,  and  women 
often  work  with  fingers  wrapped  in  rags.  One  woman  was 
found  whose  entire  hand  was  sore  and  done  up  in  a  cloth, 
while  she  toiled  away  thus  crippled. 

Vineyard  work  entails  difficulties  in  regard  to  living 
arrangements  similar  to  those  of  the  hop  fields,  since  it 
is  usually  necessary  to  assemble  the  workers  in  rural 
colonies.  In  one  vineyard,  the  campers  had  to  pitch 
their  tents  near  a  foul  pig-pen.  There  was  no  drainage, 
and  no  attention  whatever  was  paid  to  refuse,  and,  as  a 
result,  several  died  of  typhoid  fever  before  the  season 
closed. 

An  occupation  of  this  character  naturally  does  not 
attract  the  most  efficient  workers  but  rather  those  girls 
who  must  earn  their  spending  money,  and  married  women 
struggling  to  help  pay  for  their  homes  and  to  secure 
additional  comforts  for  their  families.  The  fruit  industry 
offers  work  to  a  class  of  women,  the  housekeepers,  who 
cannot  find  other  ways  of  earning  so  much.  More  and 
more  the  thrifty,  hardy,  foreign  element  is  drifting  into 
the  industry  and  crowding  back  the  weaker  American 
sister.  The  Italians  who  work  are  practically  all  married 
and  from  forty  to  fifty  years  of  age.  These,  and  other 
foreigners,  fill  the  canneries,  and  children  old  enough 
to  be  of  service  work  with  their  mothers.  One  little  girl 
of  ten  said  that  in  vacation  she  made  $1  a^day  working 
from  six  in  the  morning  till  eight  at  night.  She  looked 
121 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

well  cared  for  and  healthy,  and  insisted  that  she  enjoyed 
the  work.  The  married  women  do  not  spend  their  earn- 
ings in  improving  their  own  present  condition,  but  seem 
inspired  with  a  desire  to  save  for  their  old  age.  They  are 
indefatigable  in  their  labor  and  look  upon  the  opportunity 
of  thus  adding  to  their  incomes  as  a  special  gift  of  Provi- 
dence. 

The  Armenians  are  a  totally  different  type  and  have 
come  to  California  within  the  last  ten  years.  They  were 
of  the  farming  class  in  their  own  country,  and,  seemingly, 
their  one  ambition  is  to  own  land.  The  girls  work  steadily 
in  the  fruit,  and  the  mothers  occasionally,  as  they  can  spare 
time  from  home.  Almost  without  exception,  they  own  or 
rent  good  cottages,  which  are  comfortably  furnished  and 
have  pianos,  telephones,  and  various  modern  improve- 
ments. The  colony  maintains  a  free  school  for  the 
purpose  of  teaching  the  Armenian  language  and  customs 
to  children  born  in  America.  It  is  very  noticeable,  that 
whereas  children  of  other  extraction  invariably  speak 
English  among  themselves,  one  can  walk  for  blocks  in 
the  Armenian  quarter  of  Fresno  and  hear  the  children 
speaking  only  Armenian. 

It  is  difficult  to  discover  what  proportion  of  their  wages 
the  Armenian  girls  have  for  themselves.  They  probably 
turn  a  large  part  over  to  the  family,  but  certainly  retain 
enough  to  dress  very  well.  The  colony  has  several 
churches,  and  a  good  deal  of  social  life,  emanating  from 
these.  There  was  an  attempt  in  Fresno  to  arrange  for 
special  clubs  and  classes  among  these  girls,  but  it  was 
not  a  great  success.  They  are  apparently  more  interested 
in  cleanliness  than  in  literature,  for  they  have  a  number  of 
bath-houses  in  constant  use.  These  are  open  to  the 
public  Saturdays  and  Sundays. 

122 


FRUIT   INDUSTRIES   IN    CALIFORNIA 

The  Russians,  on  the  other  hand,  are  in  need  of  some 
one  to  teach  them  the  ordinary  laws  of  hygiene.  They 
are  untidy  and  dirty,  and  many  babies  have  serious  eye 
trouble.  These  people  have  been  coming  to  the  West 
in  great  numbers  within  the  last  few  years.  They  claim 
to  be  of  German  descent,  having  been  in  Russia  only  two 
generations,  and  among  themselves  speak  only  German. 
They  belong  to  the  Lutheran  church.  It  is  said  by  those 
who  are  in  a  position  to  know  that  the  men  are  often 
heavy  drinkers  and  abuse  their  wives,  deserting  them,  or 
ceasing  work  as  soon  as  the  fruit  season  opens. 

The  Russians  are  the  only  white  people  who  will  pick 
grapes,  the  other  pickers  being  Japanese,  Chinese,  and 
Indians.  Whole  families  of  Russians  travel  from  vineyard 
to  vineyard  doing  this  most  laborious  work.  The  chil- 
dren are  thus  kept  out  of  school.  It  is  a  common  thing 
for  a  woman  to  be  working  in  a  packing-house,  two  or 
three  older  girls  with  her,  her  husband,  if  at  work,  in  an- 
other department  of  the  same  house,  and  half  a  dozen 
younger  children  scrambling  about  in  the  tents  outside, 
one  of  them  caring  for  the  latest  baby,  often*  so  young 
that  the  mother  has  to  leave  her  work  every  hour  or  two 
to  nurse  it.  There  is  a  day  nursery  in  Fresno  to  care  for 
the  Russian  babies,  but  the  mothers  prefer  to  leave  them 
with  neighbors.  These  people  left  Russia  because  of  the 
struggle  for  existence  there,  and  have  only  one  aim  in 
life  —  to  buy  land,  at  least  enough  for  a  home.  Unlike 
the  Armenians,  many  of  whom  own  large  orchards  and 
vineyards  about  Fresno,  the  Russians  have  not  yet  become 
landowners  of  consequence. 

Among  the  Americans  there  are  more  girls  than  married 
women,  and  so  far  as  could  be  discovered  nearly  all  use 
their  earnings  for  themselves.  Those  who  work  in  the 
123 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

packing-houses  out  of  town  come  from  ranches  owned  by 
their  parents,  who  could  well  afford  to  support  them. 
They  are  weary  of  home,  and  long  for  the  independence 
that  goes  with  wage-earning.  In  the  towns  the  conditions 
are  almost  the  same.  It  is  said  that  girls  who  wish 
can  get  work  in  the  telephone  offices  or  stores  when 
the  fruit  season  ends,  but  few  of  the  Americans  care 
for  that  type  of  labor.  After  three  or  four  months* 
work,  these  girls  have  accumulated  a  respectable  sum  of 
money  with  which  they  take  music  lessons  or  go  to 
business  college.  Most  of  the  work  paid  for  by  the  day, 
such  as  papering  boxes,  is  done  by  Americans.  The  work 
is  clean,  and  the  wage  is  ;?  1.50  a  day,  but  not  so  lucrative 
as  certain  kinds  of  piece-work  and  so  does  not  appeal 
to  the  foreigners,  who  work  at  full  speed  every  moment. 
In  some  places  it  is  necessary  for  the  foreman  to  go 
around  at  twelve  and  forbid  these  foreign  women  to 
touch  the  fruit  for  half  an  hour  or  they  would  not  stop 
long  enough  to  eat  their  lunches. 

It  was  interesting  to  watch  the  women  on  their  way  to 
work  in  the  early  morning.  Long  before  seven  many 
could  be  seen  going  on  bicycles,  and  others  on  foot,  the 
procession  presenting  a  motley  appearance.  The  Russian 
women  generally  wore  some  loose-fitting  dark  waist, 
woolen  skirt  and  apron.  Many  of  the  young  girls  were 
nicely  dressed  in  suitable  wash  clothes.  Some  wore  ex- 
pensive white  lingerie  waists,  others  soiled  cheap  ones. 
One  or  two  were  seen  in  spotless  white,  with  white  shoes 
and  sunshades,  going  airily  to  work. 

The  town  of  Fresno  offers  for  amusement  one  stock 
theater  and  a  few  vaudeville  houses.  There  is  a  roller- 
skating  rink,  a  swimming  pool,  and  a  public  picnic 
ground  some  distance  from  town.  The  band  concerts  in 
124 


FRUIT   INDUSTRIES   IN   CALIFORNIA 

the  park  on  Sunday  are  the  only  forms  of  public  enter- 
tainment that  could  be  called  educational,  and  yet 
other  forms  might  easily  be  supplied  for  the  alert  young 
workers. 

During  the  fruit  season,  the  older  women  are,  as  a  rule, 
too  tired  to  go  anywhere.  When  it  is  over,  the  foreign 
colonies  have  their  own  dances  and  social  gatherings,  and 
the  Americans  have  the  usual  Ufe  of  the  fairly  comfort- 
able working  class  in  a  small  place,  and  the  girls  are  eager 
for  anything  that  affords  diversion.  Whatever  amuse- 
ments come  to  town  are  within  the  financial  reach  of  nearly 
all. 

Both  in  San  Jos^  and  in  Fresno  an  attempt  was  made 
to  discover  from  the  women  who  work  in  the  fruit  in- 
dustry whether  it  is  possible  for  a  person  to  earn  enough 
by  working  steadily  from  the  opening  of  the  canneries  to 
the  end  of  the  dried  fruit  season  to  live  on  the  remainder 
of  the  year.  Almost  without  exception  they  said,  *^No," 
or  "I  can't  say  because  I  don't  have  to  do  it,"  or  *'I 
wouldn't  hke  to  try."  Only  one  woman  was  found  who 
thought  it  would  be  possible.  It  takes  several  seasons  to 
acquire  a  very  remunerative  speed;  beginners  seldom 
make  more  than  75  cents  or  ;?i  a  day,  working  up  to 
^1.50  toward  the  end  of  the  season. 

Little  or  nothing  has  been  done  by  employers  to  im- 
prove surroundings  or  add  comforts  for  the  benefit  of  the 
women  employed.  The  hours  are  long  and  most  lines  of 
work  require  constant  standing.  In  December  and 
January  the  open  shed-like  houses  in  use  become  very 
cold.  Women  sometimes  keep  on  their  wraps  and  stand 
in  boxes  partly  filled  with  hot  bricks,  or  simply  endure 
the  cold  as  best  they  can.  It  takes  a  very  hardy 
constitution  to  survive  the  strain  of  many  years  in  the 
125 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

fruit  industry.  In  order  to  earn  ^2  or  $^  a  day,  even 
experienced  people  complain  of  great  nervous  strain. 
Those  who  earn  as  much  as  $4  work  with  tense  nerves 
and  a  feverish  haste  that  means  physical  breakdown 
eventually. 

It  matters  not  with  the  foreign  element  how  many 
children  the  mother  has,  she  works  through  the  season. 
One  little  boy  was  seen  in  a  tent  at  a  raisin  packing-house 
in  a  vineyard,  who  was  caring  for  a  three-weeks-old 
brother  while  the  mother  worked.  An  experienced 
woman  said  this  was  common,  and  later  a  woman  at  work 
on  a  seeder  was  found,  who  had  a  baby  just  three  days 
old.  Now  and  then  the  young  mother,  hot  and  excited, 
stopped  long  enough  to  nurse  the  baby  when  it  was 
brought  to  her.  Such  cases  savor  of  the  sweatshop  and 
crowded  city  populations,  and  should  not  be  tolerated  in 
communities  otherwise  free  from  the  worst  features  of 
modern  industry. 

We  investigated  eleven  establishments  in  San  Jos^  em- 
ploying 1000  women  and  twelve  in  Fresno  employing 
2000.  We  were  able  to  become  very  well  acquainted 
with  many  of  the  women  both  in  their  homes  and  work 
places,  and  in  the  tables  following  some  facts  in  regard 
to  fifty  of  these  women  appear.  The  twenty-five  in  each 
table,  it  should  be  said,  represent  various  establishments 
and  processes  in  the  two  centers  studied,  and  represent 
fairly  the  different  types  of  women  employed.  As  the 
terms  used  in  connection  with  the  form  of  employment 
are  self-explanatory,  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  de- 
scribe the  processes. 


126 


FRUIT   INDUSTRIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 


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128 


FRUIT  INDUSTRIES   IN   CALIFORNIA 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  wide  variation  in  age 
as  in  earning  capacity  and  cost  of  living.  While  many 
women  staying  at  home  contribute  to  family  support, 
others  do  not,  and  apparently  have  their  earnings  for  per- 
sonal use.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  Americans. 
After  working  hours,  they  may  be  seen  walking  about 
with  very  good  clothes  on,  looking  for  some  form  of  en- 
tertainment. They  are  the  ones  who  need  greater  oppor- 
tunity for  social  life,  and  higher  forms  of  recreation. 
They  are  ambitious,  and  use  the  fruit  industry  only  as 
a  stepping-stone  to  greater  achievements. 

But  the  foreign  women  need  this  and  more.  They 
need  instruction  in  the  English  language  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  customs  and  standards  of  the  country  in  which 
they  live.  The  mothers  need  to  be  taught  that  their 
course  is  not  only  injuring  their  own  health,  but  their 
children's  as  well. 

Several  institutions  are  already  at  work  trying  to  extend 
opportunities  to  wage-earning  women  in  the  fruitcenters, 
and  their  efforts  might  well  be  reenforced. 


129 


CHAPTER  IX 
Women  in  the  Coal  Fields  of  Pennsylvania 

Much  is  known  in  a  general  way  of  life  in  the  mining 
regions  of  Pennsylvania/  and  very  much  detailed  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  working  conditions  in  the  mines  has 
been  given  to  the  public,  but  no  special  investigation  of 
the  separate  towns  centered  mainly  on  the  social  life  of 
women  has  been  made  before  this.  It  is,  therefore,  hoped 
that  this  study  will  contribute  in  a  small  way  to  a  more 
intimate  knowledge  of  an  important  body  of  people  and 
their  needs. 

Before  proceeding  to  a  discussion  of  the  towns,  it  may 
be  well  to  locate  definitely  the  two  great  mining  sections 
of  the  state.  The  anthracite  fields  ^  embrace  a  territory 
of  about  3300  square  miles  ^  in  three  parallel  valleys  in 
the  northeastern  part  of  the  state,  while  the  bituminous 
fields  underlie  about  15,800  square  miles  in  six  parallel 
valleys  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state.* 

1  The  valuable  work  of  Dr.  Peter  Roberts  on  "  Anthracite  Coal 
Communities  "  should  be  mentioned  here  and  should  be  read  for  a  gen- 
eral view  of  the  situation.  Dr.  Roberts  himself  was  most  helpful  in  this 
investigation  not  only  to  the  director,  but  also  to  Miss  Tanner  and  Miss 
Foote,  the  two  investigators  in  the  field. 

2  The  general  boundaries  are  as  follows  :  on  the  north  by  the  north 
branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  on  the  east  by  the  Delaware  and  Lehigh 
rivers,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Susquehanna. 

3  "  Less  than  one  sixth  of  this,  or  about  484  square  miles,  is  underlaid 
by  workable  deposits  of  coal."  "  Mines  and  Quarries,"  1902  Special 
Census  Report,  p.  675. 

4  Running  from  the  Ohio  and  Maryland  lines  well  on  toward  New 
York. 

130 


WOMEN    IN   THE   COAL   FIELDS 

The  counties  included  in  the  anthracite  area  (12  coun- 
ties), with  percentage  of  production,  are  :  Carbon,  7.8  ; 
Columbia,  1.8  ;  Dauphin,  i  ;  Lackawanna,  29.2  ;  Leb- 
anon ;^  Luzerne,  20.8  ;  Northumberland,  i.i  ;  Schuyl- 
kill, 2.7  ;  Sullivan,  .8  ;  Susquehanna,  3.48  ;  Wayne  and 
Wyoming.^  The  counties  included  in  the  bituminous 
area  (24  counties)  are  :  Allegheny,  Armstrong,  Beaver, 
Bedford,  Blair,  Butler,  Cambria,  Center,  Clarion,  Clear- 
field, Clinton,  Elk,  Fayette,  Greene,  Huntingdon,  Indiana, 
Jefferson,  Lawrence,  Lycoming,  Mercer,  Somerset,  Tioga, 
Washington,  and  Westmoreland. 

Fayette,  Westmoreland,  Allegheny,  and  Cambria  are  the 
four  most  important  counties  so  far  as  output  of  coal  is 
concerned. 

A  tabular  comparison  ^  of  the  numerical  importance  of 
the  two  sections  is  now  presented. 


Number  of  mines 
Number  of  operators 
Number  of  salaried  officials,^  etc. 
Number  of  wage-earners  ^ 


Anthracite 


334 
119 

3,014 
69,691 


It  will  be  seen  that  the  anthracite  coal  fields  extend  from 
Forest  City  on  the  north  to  a  httle  south  of  Pottsville,  in  a 
long  oval.  This  embraces  three  coal  basins  —  the  Wyo- 
ming, which  is  also  the  largest,  including  Nanticoke  and 
Forest  City,  with  the  intervening  places ;  the  Lehigh,  lying 
about  Hazleton,  and  the  Schuylkill,  centering  about  Shen- 

1  These  counties  produced  nothing  in  1902. 

2  "  Mines  and  Quarries,"  1902  Special  Census  Report,  p.  291.  The 
figures  for  normal  years  are  nearly  double  for  employees. 

8  The  average  number  is  given  here. 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

andoah  and  Mahanoy  City,  while  the  bituminous  fields  are 
scattered  over  a  larger  area,  with  centers  at  Johnstown, 
Greensburg,  Connellsville,  Punxsutawney,  Spangle r  and 
Patton,  Indiana  and  Du  Bois. 

With  the  most  important  centers  in  mind,  our  work  was 
undertaken.  No  attempt  was  made  to  visit  all  the  towns 
and  patches  in  either  section,  but  only  to  select  certain 
places  which  should  be  typical  of  the  best,  average,  and 
worst  conditions.     The  places  visited  were  as  follows  : 

Anthracite  region. — Audenried  (Carbon  Co.);  Dickson 
and  Priceburg  (Lackawanna  Co.);  Drifton,  Duryea,  and 
Edwardsville  (Luzerne  Co.);  Forest  City  (Susquehanna 
Co.);  Freeland,  Hazleton,  Harleigh,  Jeanesville,  and 
Jeddo  (Luzerne  Co.);  Jessup  (Lackawanna  Co.);  Lattimer 
I  and  II  (Luzerne  Co.);  Mahanoy  City  (Schuylkill  Co.); 
Mayfield  (Lackawanna  Co.);  Milnesville  (Luzerne  Co.); 
McAdoo  (Schuylkill  Co.);  Nanticoke,  Ninth  District 
(Hazleton)  (Luzerne  Co.);  Old  Forge  and  Mudtown,  and 
Olyphant  (Lackawanna  Co.);  Parkplace  (Schuylkill  Co.); 
Pittston  and  West  Pittston  (Luzerne  Co.);  Shenandoah 
and  Trenton  (Schuylkill  Co.);  Upper  Lehigh,  Warrior 
Run,  and  Wilkesbarre  (Luzerne  Co.). 

Bituminous  region.  —  Adrian  and  Anita  (Jefferson  Co.) ; 
Barnesboro  (Cambria  Co.);  Big  Soldier  (Jefferson  Co.); 
Cambria  (Johnstown)  (Cambria  Co.);  Chambersville  (In- 
diana Co.);  Conemaugh  and  Franklin  (Cambria  Co.); 
Connellsville  (Fayette  Co.);  Crabtree  (Westmoreland  Co.); 
Creekside  (Indiana  Co.);  Du  Bois  (Clearfield  Co.);  Ehren- 
feld  (Cambria  Co.) ;  Elenora  (Jefferson  Co.) ;  Eriton  (Clear- 
field Co.);  Ernest  (Indiana  Co.);  Fayette  City  (Fayette 
Co.) ;  Florenza  (Jefferson  Co.) ;  Forbes  Roads,  Greensburg, 
Hannastown,  Haydenville,  Huff,  Jamison  I  (Westmoreland 
Co.) ;  Johnstown  (Cambria  Co.) ;  Monongahela  (Washington 
Co.) ;  Mt.  Pleasant  (Westmoreland  Co.) ;  Patton  (Cambria 
132 


WOMEN    IN   THE   COAL   FIELDS 

Co.);  Penfield  (Clearfield  Co.);  Punxsutawney  (Jefferson 
Co.);  Rossi ter  (Indiana  Co.);  South  Fork  and  Spangler 
(Cambria  Co.);  Sykesville  (Jefferson  Co.);  St.  Benedict 
(Cambria  Co.);  Tyler  (Clearfield  Co.);  Walston  (Jefferson 
Co.);   Windber  (Somerset  Co.). 

An  investigation  of  this  kind  naturally  resolves  itself 
into  a  study  of  foreign  population.  As  the  Americans  are 
found  only  in  positions  of  more  or  less  importance  around 
the  mines,  it  was  the  life  of  the  immigrant  woman  in 
her  local  setting  that  absorbed  attention.  The  nationaUties 
of  the  immigrants  are  practically  the  same  in  both  sections. 
Sixty  per  cent  of  the  miners  and  almost  all  the  mine  la- 
borers are  Slavs/  Lithuanians,  and  Italians ;  English,  Welsh, 
Irish,  and  Germans  do  only  highly  skilled  work.  The  few 
Jews  in  the  coal  fields  are  engaged  in  trade,  having  followed 
the  various  nationalities  coming  into  the  coal  fields. 

A  detailed  account  of  the  two  sections  is  now  presented  : 

(A)  Anthracite  Fields 

Probably  75  per  cent  of  the  houses  in  some  sections  are 
still  owned  by  the  companies,  although  one  frequently 
hears  it  said  that  the  company  house  is  fast  becoming  a 
thing  of  the  past.  The  newly  arrived  immigrant  is  likely 
to  come  without  his  family,  so  he  boards  with  some  one  of 
his  own  race,  as  many  as  twenty  or  thirty  men  crowding 
into  a  four-room  house  with  a  man  and  his  wife  and  family. 
In  such  cases  three  rooms,  or  perhaps  four,  are  used  as 
bedrooms,  leaving  only  a  lean-to  to  serve  as  kitchen  and 
living  room.  The  family  sleeps  in  one  room  and  the  board- 
ers in  the  rest,  one  set  occupying  the  beds  at  night  and 
another  during  the  day,  if  they  happen  to  have  a  night 

1  Including  Slovaks,  Ruthenians,  Hungarians,  Magyars,  Poles,  and 
Bohemians,  as  the  term  is  used  in  the  Pennsylvania  mining  regions. 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

shift  at  the  mine.  Sometimes,  however,  boarders  sleep  in 
the  room  with  the  family.  The  woman  does  all  the  house- 
work and  cooking  for  the  men,  each  man  usually  buying 
his  own  food  and  paying  her  a  certain  sum  for  cooking  it. 
The  houses  in  which  such  immigrants  live  usually  have 
four  rooms  with  a  lean-to.  They  are  poorly  built  and  cold 
in  winter.     The  rent  averages  ^i  per  month  per  room. 

After  the  married  immigrant  has  been  here  a  year  or 
two,  he  brings  over  his  family.  They  set  up  housekeeping 
in  one  of  these  old  houses,  taking  boarders  as  just  described. 
But  they  soon  begin  to  save  money  to  buy  a  house  and  lot. 
They  accomplish  this  in  the  course  of  five  or  six  years  and 
usually  have  a  house  in  a  better  locality,  with  five  or  six 
rooms,  not  very  well  built  perhaps,  but  a  great  improve- 
ment over  the  old  one.  They  have  a  parlor  with  lace 
curtains,  rocking-chairs,  and  a  gorgeous  lamp,  and  in  the 
kitchen  they  put  a  big  range  costing  ^30  or  ^40.  They 
may  not  have  a  lawn  in  front  of  the  house,  but  generally 
there  is  a  vegetable  garden  at  the  back. 

The  third  class  of  homes  consists  of  those  occupied  by 
the  skilled  miners.  They  are  usually  six-  or  seven-room 
houses,  comfortably  built  and  furnished  like  any  simple 
American  home.  In  any  case,  the  skilled  workers  are 
Americans  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  and  have  no 
special  need  of  help. 

Besides  the  housing  conditions,  there  are  certain  other 
characteristics  of  the  anthracite  fields  which  deserve  men- 
tion. The  water  supply  all  through  the  region  is  good, 
usually  coming  from  springs  in  the  mountains,  and  there 
is  a  fair  supply  for  each  locality,  though  not  often  a  faucet 
in  each  house. 

The  natural  surroundings  are  beautiful,  but  not  infre- 
quently a  village  grows  on  a  culm  heap  or  between  two 


WOMEN    IN   THE   COAL   FIELDS 

culm  heaps,  so  that  the  children  play  in  coal  from  morning 
till  night,  and  the  women  see  nothing  but  blackness  from 
the  windows.  The  culm  heap^  and  the  breakers  are  inev- 
itable evils,  but  it  is  surely  not  necessary  for  houses  to  be 
built  close  to  them,  when  a  walk  of  five  minutes  would  bring 
the  people  to  grass  and  often  to  an  attractive  view  as  well. 
Throughout  the  anthracite  fields  the  women  among 
the  Slavs  are  in  the  minority,  and  are  generally  married 
early  and  kept  busy  at  home  with  the  usual  duties  and 
many  boarders.  But  scattered  through  the  region  are 
silk-mills,  knitting-mills,  and  shirt  factories,  which  employ 
young  girls.  In  these  the  laws  regarding  child  labor  and 
the  hours  and  conditions  of  work  are  not  rigorously  en- 
forced, and  many  hardships  result.  Conditions  in  the  silk- 
mills  are  not  by  any  means  so  good  as  could  be  desired. 

(B)  Bituminous  Fields 

In  the  bituminous  fields  the  company  house  is  in  evi- 
dence everywhere.  When  an  operator  opens  a  mine,  he 
lets  a  contract  to  a  builder  to  put  up  a  town  of  from  fifty 
to  three  hundred  houses.  In  their  worst  state  these  houses 
have  four  or  five  rooms,  no  clapboards  or  foundations,  and 
a  very  thin  coat  of  plaster  inside,  and  rent  for  from  $Af 
to  ^9  a  month,  making  in  general  an  average  of  ^i  per 
month  per  room  as  in  the  anthracite  fields.  There  are 
no  water  faucets  in  the  houses,  and  often  there  are  only 
three  or  four  in  the  town.  The  average  house  is  clap- 
boarded,  but  has  no  foundation,  or  only  a  board  one.  The 
best  houses  are  found  at  Ernest  and  have  six  rooms,  are 
clapboarded,  have  stone  foundations  and  a  fairly  good 
coat  of  plaster  and   a  faucet  in    each  kitchen.     In  this 

1  Successful  efforts  have  been  made  to  reduce  the  culm  heap  some- 
what by  converting  part  of  it  into  a  marketable  product. 

135 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

town  the  houses  for  the  bosses  have  also  an  indoor  closet 
and  bath.  In  many  places  the  companies  erected  no 
outdoor  closets  when  the  houses  were  built,  and  the  people 
have  had  to  provide  them.  The  result  is  buildings  which 
in  some  cases  do  not  provide  for  the  requirements  of 
decency,  and  never  for  those  of  health.  In  other  cases 
the  companies  had  outhouses  built,  but  they  are  in  groups 
of  six  or  eight  to  serve  for  a  block.  It  is  possible 
that  part  of  these  are  supposed  to  be  reserved  for  women 
and  part  for  men,  but  they  are  rarely  so  used. 

The  immigrant  in  the  bituminous  fields  has  small  oppor- 
tunity to  buy  a  house  and  lot  for  himself,  since  the  com- 
pany will  not  sell  him  land  even  if  he  be  disposed  to  buy. 
He  does  not,  therefore,  have  the  same  chance  to  improve 
his  surroundings  that  he  would  have  in  the  anthracite  fields, 
and  one  strong  incentive  to  saving  is  taken  away.  Yet, 
owing  to  the  exigencies  of  bituminous  mining,  the  company 
house  seems  to  be  the  only  practicable  thing.^ 

In  several  of  these  towns  the  water  supply  is  bad  and 
typhoid  fever  not  uncommon.  This  is  not  entirely  the 
fault  of  the  companies,  as  the  water  is  not  naturally  so 
good  as  in  the  anthracite  fields.  At  the  same  time  some 
measures  should  be  taken  to  make  the  water  drinkable. 
In  several  cases  there  was  only  one  place  in  the  town 
where  drinking  water  could  be  obtained,  and  often  the 
Americans  were  afraid  to  use  that  without  boiling. 

The  company  towns  have  no  sidewalks  and  no  proper 
method  of  garbage  disposal.  Streets  and  alleys  are 
very  dirty,  and  there  is  not  even  a  pretense  of  cleaning 
them,  as  there  is  in  the  anthracite  fields.  They  clean  up 
when  there  is  an  epidemic.     These  places  do  not  give  the 

1  The  life  of  a  mine  is  only  about  ten  years,  and  men  could  not  afford 
to  own  homes  for  such  a  sojourn. 

136 


WOMEN    IN   THE   COAL   FIELDS 

impression  of  crowding,  as  do  the  "  patches  "  in  the 
anthracite  fields.  The  worst  of  the  houses  in  the  former 
are  not  so  bad  as  the  worst  in  the  latter;  but  neither  do  the 
best  in  the  one  case  compare  with  the  best  in  the  other. 

The  women  marry  young,  as  in  the  anthracite  section, 
and  are  in  the  main  given  over  to  the  arduous  duties  of 
housekeeping  and  taking  boarders,  besides  trying  to  care 
for  numerous  small  children.  There  are  comparatively 
few  factories  here. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  in  many  respects 
living  conditions  in  both  the  anthracite  and  bituminous 
fields  are  most  undesirable.  Other  features  of  the  two 
regions,  such  as  amusements  and  moral  conditions,  may 
well  be  discussed  together. 

Amusements 

The  amusements  are  few  in  number  and  are  practically 
all  traceable  to  liquor  drinking.  Even  where  there  are 
theaters  and  concerts  the  immigrants  do  not  patronize 
them  owing  to  their  imperfect  understanding  of  English  ; 
and  for  the  same  reason  they  do  not  frequent  even  the 
nickelodeons  and  penny  arcades  to  any  extent.  What 
characteristic  social  life  they  have  centers  about  wed- 
dings and  christenings,  when  a  supply  of  liquor  is  bought 
and  a  carousal  of  several  days  follows.  Then,  too, 
in  summer,  there  are  many  dances,  with  liquor  always 
circulating  freely.  Every  one,  from  the  baby  to  the 
grandmother,  goes  to  these  dances.  If  there  were  no 
liquor  sold,  it  is  probable  that  such  dances  would  be  an 
innocent  enough  form  of  amusement,  for  the  round  dance 
is  seldom  seen.  As  they  are  actually  conducted,  however, 
women  and  children,  as  well  as  men,  drink  ;  ugly  tempers 
and  evil  passions  are  aroused,  and  there  are  frequent  fights ; 
^37 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

while  after  the  dance  young  men  and  women  find  oppor- 
tunity to  indulge  their  inflamed  passions.  During  the 
summer  many  picnics  are  held  which  are  prolonged  till 
late  in  the  evening  with  dancing  and  liquor.  This  is  a 
source  of  grave  danger  to  the  girls,  and  is  deplored  by  the 
better  element  among  the  immigrants  themselves. 

Both  dances  and  picnics  are  held  under  various  aus- 
pices. Sometimes  they  are  conducted  by  one  of  the  men's 
societies  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  sometimes  by  the 
church  itself,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money.  Usually 
there  is  a  charge  of  25  cents  a  couple,  and  invariably  the 
profits  from  the  liquor  selling  go  into  the  church  treasury. 
Neither  picnics  nor  balls  seem  to  be  as  common  in  the 
bituminous  fields  as  in  the  anthracite. 

Aside  from  the  foregoing  the  only  amusement  is 
beer  drinking,  either  at  home  or  in  the  saloons.  In  most 
places  in  the  anthracite  fields  little  pretense  is  made  of 
enforcing  the  Sunday  laws,  and  some  of  the  better  class 
of  Americans  are  doubtful  as  to  the  wisdom  of  enforcement. 
The  real  question  seems  to  be,  whether  it  is  better  for  men 
to  drink  at  home  or  in  the  saloon.  If  the  saloons  are 
closed  on  Sunday,  the  men  in  one  house  together  buy  a 
keg  of  beer,  which  must  be  consumed  by  Monday  morning 
or  it  will  spoil.  The  result  is  a  grand  debauch,  in  which 
the  women  and  children  are  participants.  If  the  men 
could  go  to  the  saloon,  the  women  and  children  would 
probably  get  no  beer  and  the  men  less,  because  it  would 
cost  more. 

In  the  bituminous  fields  saloons  are  not  so  numerous, 
and  the  laws  are  more  strictly  enforced.  In  the  com- 
pany towns  there  are  no  saloons,  but  to  counterbalance 
this  the  beer  wagon  makes  a  visit  every  day  or  two,  and 
the  people  keep  beer  in  the  house  by  the  keg. 

138 


WOMEN   IN   THE   COAL  FIELDS 


Moral  Conditions 

The  lax  moral  conditions  among  the  immigrants  arise 
in  large  part  from  the  drink  evil,  but  also  in  part  from 
the  conditions  under  which  they  live.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  all  nationalities  are  heavy  drinkers  and  have  brought 
the  habit  with  them  from  their  own  countries.  At  home, 
however,  they  had  but  little  money,  and  it  is  possible 
that  the  liquor  they  had  was  less  adulterated  than 
ours,  and  that  it  did  less  harm  than  when  taken  in  our 
climate.  However  that  may  be,  what  they  get  here 
undoubtedly  leads  to  most  of  the  fights  and  murders 
among  them  and  to  much  of  the  vice. 

A  difficulty  arises  from  the  necessity  of  a  daily  bath. 
The  mine  workers  come  home  with  coal  dust  ground  into 
them  from  head  to  foot  and  find  a  tub  bath  a  necessity. 
In  winter  there  is  no  place  for  this  except  in  the  kitchen 
in  the  presence  of  the  women  and  children.  This  lack 
of  privacy  is  demoraHzing. 

The  three  factors  of  drink,  crowding,  and  the  daily  bath 
unite  to  make  the  standard  of  purity  in  the  coal  fields 
admittedly  a  low  one.  Illegitimate  children  are  not  un- 
common, though  when  a  mother  is  unmarried,  the  priest 
usually  makes  it  his  business  to  see  that  the  father  of  her 
child  marries  her. 

Favorable  Conditions 

Aside  from  these  serious  evils,  little  else  can  be  charged 
against  the  immigrants.  Their  standard  of  living  is  lower 
than  ours,  but  they  change  all  this  in  an  amazingly  short 
time,  if  they  have  any  chance  at  all.  Furthermore,  they 
are  frugal  and  thrifty,  and  law-abiding  and  peaceable, 
when  not  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  All  nationalities, 
139 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

except  perhaps  the  Italian,  are  well  developed,  sturdy, 
healthy  people.  Taking  them  all  in  all,  the  immigrants 
in  the  coal  fields  are  neither  vicious  nor  criminal ;  they 
are  only  ignorant  and  undisciplined.  Those  who  know 
them  best  say  that  they  are  most  teachable,  when  those 
who  would  help  them  have  won  their  confidence.  Their 
early  experiences  in  the  New  World  may  have  given 
them  just  cause  to  be  suspicious  of  the  stranger,  and 
to  view  with  distrust  any  overtures  that  may  be  made 
to  them  even  by  persons  whose  motives  are  above 
reproach. 

It  seems  desirable  here  for  purposes  of  definiteness 
and  comparison  to  put  in  tabular  form  certain  classes 
of  facts,  in  accordance  with  a  twofold  grouping,  as 
follows : 

First,  general  information  in  regard  to  each  place 
studied,  including  population  and  occupations  of 
women. 

Second,  social  life.  For  lack  of  a  better  term  this  has 
been  made  to  include  amusements,  clubs,  and  classes  for 
women,  and  church  undertakings  of  a  definitely  social,  as 
distinct  from  a  purely  religious,  character.^  The  kinder- 
garten has  been  considered  in  undertakings  for  women  on 
account  of  its  great  importance  to  mothers.  The  public 
schools  have  not  been  mentioned,  as  they  are  found  in 
accordance  with  the  law  in  every  town. 

1  It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  divide  church  work  in  this  way  without 
appearing  to  discriminate  in  favor  of  certain  churches,  and  the  fact  that 
only  one  or  two  denominations  are  reported  as  doing  special  social 
work  does  not  mean  that  the  others  are  not  doing  valuable  work 
along  distinctly  religious  lines. 


140 


WOMEN   IN   THE   COAL  FIELDS 


ANTHRACITE  FIELDS 

Table  I  —  General  Information 


Place 

Popula- 
tion I 

Occupations  of  Women 

Audenried 

2000 

Housekeeping.'     Work  in  factories  near. 

Dickson  and  Priceburg  3 

5000 

Housekeeping.     100  girls  in  silk-mill. 

Drifton 

2129 

Housekeeping. 

Duryea 

1500 

Housekeeping. 

Edwardsville 

5165 

Housekeeping.     Work     in     factories     in 

Wilkesbarre. 
Housekeeping.     50  girls  in  silk-mill. 

Forest  City 

4279 

Freeland 

5254 

Housekeeping.     1 20  girls  in  silk-mill.     220 
girls  in  overall  factory. 

Harleigh 

58s 

Housekeeping.  A  few  girls  in  near-by  mills. 

Hazleton 

14,230 

Housekeeping  and  factory  work;  *  498  in 
three  shirt  factories;    388  in  two  silk- 
mills;    160  in  two  knitting-mills;    many 
go  to  Waverly  factories. 

Jeanesville  s 

1070 

Housekeeping.     Work     in     factories    in 
Hazleton. 

Jeddo 

1632 

Housekeeping.     Work    in     factories     in 
near-by  towns. 

Jessup 

3242 

Housekeeping. 

Lattimer  I  and  II 

16006 

Housekeeping.   A  few  in  near-by  factories. 

Mahanoy  City 

15,504 

Housekeeping.     220  girls  in  three    shirt 

factories. 
Housekeeping. 

Mayfield 

6000  7 

Milnesville 

824 

Housekeeping.     Factory  work  in  near-by 
towns. 

McAdoo 

2122 

Housekeeping.     60  girls  in  shirt  factory. 

Nanticoke 

12,116 

Housekeeping. '°     200  girls  in  two  silk-mills 
and  one  hosiery-mill. 

"Ninth  District"* 

50009 

Housekeeping. '°     A  few  in  Hazleton  mills. 

Old  Forge  and  Mudtown 

5630 

Housekeeping.      Work  in  Taylor  factories. 

Olyphant 

6180 

Housekeeping.     300  girls  in  silk-mill. 

Parkplace 

188 

Housekeeping. 

Pittston 
West  Pittston 

5846) 

Housekeeping.     Work  in  factories. 

Shenandoah 

20,321 

Housekeeping.     Varied  factory  work. 

Trenton 

3009 

Housekeeping. 

Upper  Lehigh 

1200 

Housekeeping.  20-30  girls  in  near-by  mills. 

Warrior  Run 

955" 

Housekeeping.     Work    in    factories    in 

Wilkesbarre. 
Housekeeping.     Varied  industries. 

Wilkesbarre 

51,721 

^  Figures  from  the  Census  of  1900  used. 

'  The  term  "  housekeeping  "  is  meant  to  include  taking  boarders,  as  the  great 
majority  of  women  engage  in  this  work. 

3  The  mining  center  frequently  includes  more  than  a  political  division. 

^  These  girls  come  mostly  from  Audenried,  Freeland,  and  other  small  near-by 
towns. 

5  Iron  works  here  also  employing  325  men. 

6  Estimated  at  the  present  time  at  about  2200. 

7  Approximate. 

8  Just  outside  the  city  limits  of  Hazelton. 

9  Approximate. 

^°  Girls  marry  before  the  age  of  16  as  a  rule,  especially  among  the  Italians. 
"  Now  about  1200. 


141 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 


BITUMINOUS   FIELDS 

Table  I  —  General  Information 


Place 

Popula- 
tion 

Occupations  of  Women 

Adrian 

800 » 

Housekeeping. 

Anita 

2500 

Housekeeping. 

Barnesboro 

1482  =» 

Housekeeping. 

Big  Soldier 

900^ 

Housekeeping. 

Cambria  3 

1200  I 

Housekeeping. 

Chambersville 

4001 

Housekeeping. 

Conemaugh  and 

2I7S 

Housekeeping. 

Franklin  ^ 

961  s 

Housekeeping. 

Connellsville  ^ 

7160 

Housekeeping. 

Crabtree  or  Jamison  IV 

2000  ' 

Housekeeping. 

Creekside 

1000  ^ 

Housekeeping. 

Du  Bois  7 

9375 

Housekeeping. 

100  girls  in  overall  factory. 

Ehrenfeld 

567 

Housekeeping. 

Elenora 

1500 

Housekeeping. 

Eriton 

200^ 

Housekeeping. 

Ernest 

2600^ 

Housekeeping. 

Fayette  City 

1595 

Housekeeping. 

Florenza                         [III 

1500  I 

Housekeeping. 

Forbes  Roads  or   Jamison 

1000  8 

Housekeeping. 

Greensburg  9 

6508 

Housekeeping. 

Hannastown  or  Jamison  II 

20008 

Housekeeping. 

HaydenvUle 

6008 

Housekeeping. 

Huflf- 

10008 

Housekeeping. 

80  in  brass-fitting  factory. 

Jamison  I 

12008 

Housekeeping. 

Johnstown  " 

35,936" 

Housekeeping. 

Some  factory  work. 

Monongahela  '3 

5173 

Housekeeping. 

Mt.  Pleasant  ^ 

4745 

Housekeeping. 

200  girls  in  glass  factory. 

Patton  ^5 

2651^6 

Housekeeping. 

Penfield  '7 

716 

Housekeeping. 

Punxsutawney »» 

4375  "^ 

Housekeeping. 

tory. 
Housekeeping. 

50  girls  in  shirtwaist  fac- 

Rossiter 

40008 

South  Fork 

2635 

Housekeeping. 

Spangler 

1616^0 

Housekeeping. 

Sykesville  '* 

156" 

Housekeeping. 

St.  Benedict 

400  8 

Housekeeping. 

Tyler  ^4 

20008 

Housekeeping. 

Walston  H 

1937 

Housekeeping. 

Windber 

6000 

Housekeeping, 
tory  at  Arro\^ 

14  girls  in  kindling  fac- 

T. 

I  Approximate.  *  Now  about  3000.  3  In  Jolinstown  city  limits.  4  Steel 
works  here  employing  several  thousand  men.  5  Both  now  about  6000;  five 
sixths  foreigners.  ^  jj-on  mill  here  employing  300  men.  ^  Resident  center  for 
small  mining  towns  near  by.  Adrian  Furnace,  100  Slovaks;  Du  Bois  Iron 
Works,  64  Germans  and  Scotch;  Locomotive  Works,  500  Germans,  Scotch,  and 
Irish;  many  Italians  on  railroads.  8  Approximate.  ^  Business  center  for 
small  mining  towns;  residential  town  for  retired  merchants  and  farmers. 
»°  Brass-fitting  factories  here  employ  a  great  many  men.  ^'  Great  steel  works 
here,  also  minor  industries  using  steel  and  iron.  ^^  Estimated  to  be  45,000  now. 
»3  Factories  here  employing  1000.  Business  center  for  near-by  mining  towns. 
14  Coke  ovens  here  also.  's  Clay  works  here  employing  500.  ^^  About  4000 
now.  17  Lumbering  and  farming  also  employ  the  men  here.  Town  a  decadent 
one;  lumbering  nearly  exhausted  and  coal  mine  almost  worked  out.  ^8  Business 
centers  for  small  mining  centers  near.  ^^  Now  estimated  at  10,000.  2°  Now 
about  2500.        2^  Now  estimated  at  800. 

142 


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WOMEN   IN   THE   COAL   FIELDS 


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153 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

SUMMARY 

The  situation  may  be  summed  up  in  this  way  :  In  the 
coal  fields  there  are,  roughly  speaking,  three  quarters  of  a 
million  immigrants,  —  men,  women,  and  children,  —  most 
of  them  of  Slavic  races,  who  have  brought  over  to  this 
country  the  manners  and  customs  of  a  lower  civiHzation, 
and  who  are  Uving  under  conditions  which  tend  to  per- 
petuate their  civilization  instead  of  raising  them  to  a 
higher  level.  They  live  by  themselves,  not  minghng  with 
Americans,  and  usually  knowing  them  only  as  arrogant 
and  unjust  superiors.  They  live  together  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, they  work  together  in  gangs,  they  go  to  their  own 
churches  where  the  service  is  in  their  own  tongue,  and 
they  trade  at  stores  where  there  are  clerks  of  their  own 
race.  In  spite  of  all  this,  the  men  do  learn  some  Eng- 
lish in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  but  many  women  never 
learn  any.  The  children  are  more  likely  to  acquire  it,  but 
when  they  go  to  the  parochial  schools,  as  most  of  them 
do,  they  get  only  a  smattering.  The  immigrants  have 
practically  no  opportunity  to  learn  anything  of  our  history 
and  traditions  or  about  our  standards  of  living  and  morality. 

In  the  better  sections  of  the  towns,  quite  apart  from 
these  immigrants,  Uve  the  Americans  and  the  immigrants 
of  Anglo-Saxon  and  Celtic  origin,  holding  the  best  posi- 
tions and  frequently  scorning  the  Slavs.  The  proportion 
between  these  two  classes,  of  course,  varies  considerably, 
but  probably  in  towns  of  more  than  6000  it  is  usually 
from  50  to  75  per  cent  Slav  and  from  25  to  50  per  cent 
American,  German,  EngUsh,  Welsh,  and  Irish,  while  in 
the  small  patches  not  more  than  from  10  to  20  per  cent 
would  belong  to  the  latter  class. 

Betterment  Work.  —  The  agencies  at  work  American- 
154 


WOMEN   IN   THE   COAL   FIELDS 

izing  these  immigrants  are  few  and  feeble.  The  only 
Protestant  work  at  all  systematized  and  extensive  is  that 
undertaken  by  the  Presbyterian  church  and  by  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  The  Presbyterians 
have  a  committee  in  the  anthracite  fields,  and  another 
in  the  bituminous  region,  in  charge  of  the  work  among 
the  foreign-speaking  peoples,  and  these  committees  have 
established  missionaries  in  nearly  all  of  the  larger  towns, 
and  they  go  out  from  these  to  the  smaller  places.  Their 
work  for  the  most  part  is  professedly  religious,  consisting 
of  holding  services  in  the  native  language  of  the  people 
and  in  the  distribution  of  tracts,  but  some  of  the  mis- 
sionaries also  do  a  great  deal  of  house-to-house  visiting, 
protecting  the  people  from  injustice  in  one  form  or 
another,  and  teaching  them  their  legal  rights.  They  also 
have  women  who  conduct  sewing  and  cooking  classes  and 
visit  in  the  homes,  and  nearly  all  the  kindergartens  in 
the  coal  fields  are  supported  by  the  Presbyterians.  In  a 
few  places  Methodists,  Episcopalians,  and  Baptists  have 
missionaries.  Aside  from  these,  no  other  Protestant 
churches  are  working  among  the  foreigners. 

There  are  various  explanations  as  to  the  lack  of  Prot- 
estant activity.  Among  them  must  undoubtedly  be  put 
the  indifference  referred  to  above,  but,  in  justice  to  the 
churches,  other  causes  should  be  noted.  One  is  that  the 
efforts  of  the  Presbyterian  church  seem  to  have  met  with 
small  results  compared  with  the  money  and  energy  ex- 
pended. This  has  deterred  others.  Those  who  have 
had  charge  of  this  work  say  they  have  met  almost  in- 
superable difficulties  in  finding  the  right  men  and  women 
for  the  work.^     In  several  cases  missionaries  have  proved 

iThe  great  difficulty,  of  course,  is  in  getting  suitable  people  who 
are  at  the  same  time  familiar  with  the  Slavic  tongues. 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

to  be  of  bad  character,  and  the  priests  are  still  mak- 
ing capital  out  of  this.  In  cases  where  ex-CathoHcs 
were  engaged  the  people  looked  upon  them  as  rene- 
gades and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  them.  All  to- 
gether, the  men  on  the  committees  in  charge  of  the  work 
feel  that  it  is  slow  and  shows  small  results. 

A  second  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  weakness  of  the 
Protestant  churches  all  through  the  coal  fields.  The 
Protestant  population  consists  of  Anglo-Saxons,  and  they 
are  moving  out  of  these  fields  as  the  Slavs  come  in,  so 
that  the  congregations  are  steadily  diminishing  through 
no  fault  of  their  own. 

The  strongest  reason  of  all,  however,  lies  in  the  fact 
that  practically  all  of  these  immigrants  are  Roman  Catho- 
lics. There  are  a  few  who  belong  to  the  Orthodox  Greek 
church  and  some  who  are  Lutherans  or  Calvinists,  but 
the  great  majority  were  brought  up  Catholics  and  fear 
and  respect  the  priest  at  least  enough  to  keep  away  from 
Protestant  churches.  The  policy  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  is  to  give  the  people  priests  of  their  own  nation- 
ality as  far  as  possible.  The  priests  in  the  coal  fields  are, 
as  a  rule,  foreign  born  and  bred,  and  in  many  cases  speak 
and  understand  English  imperfectly.  They  know  little  of 
American  ideas  and  ideals,  and  often  they  fear  the  liberty  of 
thought  and  speech  characteristic  of  the  country  be- 
cause they  believe  it  breeds  disloyalty  to  the  church. 
They  use  their  influence,  therefore,  to  isolate  their  people. 
In  some  cases  they  urge  them  not  to  learn  English.  In 
all  cases  they  forbid  them  to  have  any  dealings  with  Protes- 
tant ministers  or  to  enter  classes  that  have  any  religious 
features. 

Their  most  permanent  hold  upon  the  people  is  probably 
gained  through  the  parochial  schools.     In  the  bituminous 

156 


WOMEN   IN  THE   COAL   FIELDS 

fields  there  are  comparatively  few  of  these,  but  in  the  an- 
thracite region  they  are  numerous.  Here,  in  many  places, 
it  is  estimated  that  90  per  cent  of  the  children  attend 
them,  which  means  that  practically  90  per  cent  never  get 
into  the  public  schools  and  so  have  no  real  opportunity  to 
become  Americanized.  It  was  difficult  to  get  accurate 
information  about  the  parochial  schools  because,  unlike 
the  public  schools,  they  do  not  report  to  the  local  or  state 
superintendent,  but  it  appears  that  they  ^  are  inferior  to 
the  public  schools  both  in  buildings  and  instruction. 
They  rarely  do  more  than  fulfil  the  law  as  regards  the 
teaching  of  English,  and  in  some  cases  their  professed 
object  is  to  keep  the  children  speaking  their  native 
tongue. 

The  Roman  Catholic  church  is  undoubtedly  the  strong- 
est power  in  the  coal  fields,  and  any  agency  that  reaches 
the  immigrants  must  deal  with  the  church  in  one  way  or 
another.  This  fact  alone  should  explain  why  the  work 
of  Protestant  churches  shows  such  meager  results.  The 
bolder  spirits,  the  more  restless  or  dissatisfied  minds,  can 
sometimes  be  touched,  but  not  the  rank  and  file,  and  the 
women  least  of  all.  The  priests  have  repeatedly  broken 
up  kindergartens  and  classes  when  they  heard  that  the 
Bible  was  read  or  a  hymn  sung  in  them,  and  they  have  no 
hesitation  in  denouncing  from  the  pulpit  either  a  school 
or  an  individual. 

For  the  same  reasons  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation works  under  disadvantages,  though  not  to  so  great 
a  degree  as  do  the  churches.  Occasionally  a  priest  is  on 
friendly  terms  with  the  secretary  and  encourages  his  people 
to  make  use  of  the  association  rooms,  and  to  attend 
classes  which  have  no  religious  features.     In  most  cases 

1  Exceptions  being  the  Irish  and  German  parochial  schools. 

157 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

he  is  openly  hostile,  while  in  a  few  cases  he  is  passive  but 
watchful  to  see  that  members  of  his  flock  do  not  slip  away. 
The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  secretaries  admit 
frankly  that  even  they  do  not  touch  the  great  body  of  im- 
migrants, but  they  hope,  by  emphasizing  their  purely 
educational  features,  to  widen  their  influence. 

The  Roman  Catholic  church  seems  to  confine  itself 
largely  to  mere  formal  requirements.  It  has  some 
benefit  societies  for  men  and  women,  and  these  soci- 
eties give  dances  and  balls  and,  when  the  priest  is  so 
disposed,  plays  or  entertainments.  In  some  cases  the 
priest  organizes  temperance  societies,  but  this  seems  to 
be  exceptional. 

It  seldom  appears  that  the  priest  sets  forces  at  work  to 
teach  the  people  how  to  live  better,  to  keep  themselves 
and  their  houses  clean,  or  that  he  makes  any  effort  to  im- 
prove the  bad  housing  conditions  and  intemperance,  both 
of  which  result  in  so  much  immorality. 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  the  more  obvious  needs  of 
the  people  in  the  Pennsylvania  mining  regions  might  be 
summed  up  under  the  following  six  heads  : 

1.  They  need  better  houses  at  reasonable  rents. 

2.  They  need  public  baths,  either  free  or  with  a  nom- 
inal charge,  in  every  town  and  "  patch  "  throughout  the 
coal  fields.  Such  baths,  if  sufficient  in  number,  would  do 
away  with  the  kitchen  bath,  and  would  surely  help  toward 
better  moral  conditions. 

3.  They  need  places  of  amusement  to  offset  the  influ- 
ence of  the  saloon. 

4.  They  need  to  mingle  with  Americans  who  are  kindly 
disposed  toward  them  ;  the  women  in  this  way  to  have  op- 
portunities to  learn  better  methods  of  housekeeping,  and 
caring  for  children  and  the  sick. 

158 


WOMEN   IN   THE   COAL   FIELDS 

5.  They  need  simple  lectures  or  some  other  form  of 
instruction  in  our  laws,  customs,  and  history. 

6.  And,  most  important  of  all,  they  need  to  learn  the 
English  language. 

That  is,  in  brief,  they  need  a  chance  to  become  good 
Americans,  and  the  withholding  of  this  opportunity  may 
eventually  jeopardize  the  moral  standards  of  a  free  people. 


IS9 


CHAPTER  X 

Uplifting  Forces 

No  study  of  women  workers  can  be  complete  without 
including  in  it  some  discussion  of  the  betterment  forces 
at  work  in  their  behalf.  It  is  extremely  rare  to  find  a 
community  entirely  unmindful  of  the  needs  of  this  class 
of  women,  although  there  are  some  well-nigh  lacking  in 
social  spirit.  And  we  have  yet  to  find  the  place  where 
greater  opportunities  could  not  be  extended  advanta- 
geously. 

While  the  largest  cities  furnish  the  story  of  largest 
endeavor,  they,  at  the  same  time,  reveal  the  gravest  need. 
Multitudes  of  girls  never  come  in  touch  with  movements 
undertaken  for  their  benefit.  Thousands  have  never  heard 
of  settlement  classes,  or  trade  unions,  or  working  girls' 
clubs,  and  many  more  look  suspicious  when  these  are 
mentioned.  But  notwithstanding  the  truth  of  this,  one 
of  the  most  encouraging  features  of  a  study  of  indus- 
trial life  is  the  evidence  that  so  much  is  being  done  by 
interested  bodies  to  offset  the  somewhat  deadening  influ- 
ences of  toil  as  it  exists  to-day. 

The  fact  that  so  many  different  groups  representing 
varying  interests  are  awake  to  the  needs  of  wage- earning 
women  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  signs  of  the  times,  and 
is  an  excellent  indication  of  the  spread  of  democratic 
principles.  Under  our  present  industrial  organization, 
some  groups  bear  an  undue  burden  of  the  hardships  of  life, 
and  inasmuch  as  this  is  largely  the  result  of  accident  of 
1 60 


UPLIFTING   FORCES 

birth  or  of  training,  it  would  seem  that  a  truly  democratic 
people  would  feel  impelled  to  ehminate,  wherever  possi- 
ble, the  element  of  unfairness  from  the  struggle,  and 
remove  the  handicaps  for  which  society  is  responsible. 

A  wider  knowledge  of  general  labor  conditions  as  they 
exist  would  go  far  toward  creating  a  more  sympathetic 
cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  pubhc,  which  alone  is 
powerful  to  effect  changes.  People  are  learning,  slowly 
it  is  true,  that  the  welfare  of  all  necessitates  the  welfare 
of  each,  and  they  are  realizing  more  keenly  than  ever 
before  that  the  ideal  of  national  supremacy  cannot  be 
attained  so  long  as  millions  of  women  are  left  to  flounder 
in  the  misery  and  gloom  of  an  industrial  situation  they 
cannot  all  understand,  and  even  if  they  could  understand, 
could  not  change  unaided. 

The  factory  girl,  the  shop  girl,  the  college  girl,  the 
woman  in  the  home,  the  woman  active  in  public  welfare, 
and  the  woman  in  society,  as  well  as  all  the  men  in  the 
nation,  should  make  common  cause  of  race  improvement, 
and  no  far-reaching  improvement  is  possible  while  young 
girls  are  allowed  to  exhaust  their  physical  energy  and 
jeopardize  their  moral  integrity  in  occupations  where  the 
remuneration  practically  precludes  a  normal  standard  of 
life.  The  college  girl  with  her  books,  and  the  older 
woman  with  her  problems,  must  extend  a  helping  hand 
to  the  girl  and  the  woman  whose  lot  is  cast  in  factory  or 
shop.  They  are  all  of  the  same  clay  and  wonderfully 
alike,  as  those  who  have  extended  hands  across  the 
chasm  have  found.  Favoring  circumstances  have  given 
to  one  group  more  of  the  graces  of  life,  but  not  more 
natural  charm,  nor  greater  human  interest.  Mutual  ad- 
vantage and  inspiration  must  come  from  cooperation  on 
the  part  of  these  two  divisions  of  womankind.  It  is  not 
M  i6i 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

charity  that  is  needed  by  the  one,  but  a  broader  human 
sympathy,  a  sympathy  that  will  protect  the  weaker  from 
injustice. 

It  will  not  be  possible  to  enumerate  here  all  the  efforts 
for  the  improvement  of  industrial  conditions  found  in  the 
cities  and  towns  covered  by  the  investigation.  The  aim 
is  rather  to  discuss  the  character  of  the  largest  move- 
ments only,  and  through  these  to  present  the  scope  of 
community  interest  in  wage-earning  women.  This  must 
not  be  construed  as  a  disparagement  of  the  small  under- 
takings which  are  often  of  great  social  value.  The  young 
woman  fresh  from  college  who  conducts  a  sewing  class  in 
her  father's  factory  for  ten  girls,  and  the  young  matron 
who  opens  her  home  once  a  month  to  the  girls  in  her 
husband's  mill,  are  entitled  to  commendation,  but  their 
work  is  not  a  sufficiently  important  contribution  to  the 
large  field  of  industrial  amelioration  to  warrant  its  inclu- 
sion among  the  really  significant  forces. 

The  uphfting  agencies  found  in  the  places  studied  are, 
in  the  main,  those  familiar  to  all  who  keep  in  touch  with 
social  progress,  but  they  are  nevertheless  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  bear  further  discussion  and  appreciation. 

Conspicuous  among  the  forces  leading  to  improve- 
ment is  careful  investigation  of  conditions  that  exist, 
and  this  may  well  be  considered  first. 

Investigation  by  Public  and  Private  Agencies.  —  The 
study  of  industrial  conditions  with  a  view  to  changing 
them  for  the  better,  must  be  accorded  a  high  place  among 
betterment  forces  at  work.  Prominent  among  such 
studies  are  those  undertaken  from  time  to  time  by  state 
and  nation  through  their  departments  of  labor.  Many 
states  have  followed  the  lead  of  Massachusetts,  and  have 
given  the  pubHc  the  benefit  of  their  far-reaching  inquiries. 
162 


UPLIFTING  FORCES 

In  addition  to  these,  the  reports  of  the  factory  inspectors 
frequently  contain  much  that  is  instructive  in  regard 
to  the  labor  of  women  under  the  jurisdiction  of  such 
inspectors. 

The  federal  investigation  of  the  work  of  women  and 
children,  and  the  effect  of  industry  upon  them,  recently 
completed,  is  the  most  extensive  study  of  the  kind  ever 
carried  on  in  this  country,  and  the  results  are  awaited  with 
interest.  No  private  organization  could  possibly  under- 
take so  extended  a  work,  both  on  account  of  the  difficulty 
of  securing  large  funds,  and  on  account  of  a  lack  of  manda- 
tory power  which  the  government  possesses.  It  would 
seem  highly  desirable,  then,  that  the  federal  government 
should  make  such  investigation  a  regular  part  of  its  duty, 
thereby  leaving  private  bodies  free  to  establish  lines  of 
activity  based  on  the  information  thus  gained.  Wider 
knowledge  as  to  the  effects  of  wage-earning  upon  women 
and  the  race  is  undoubtedly  a  social  necessity.  Girls  are 
too  valuable  to  be  wantonly  sacrificed  before  the  Moloch 
of  Industry.  If  their  young  Hves  or  future  usefulness  are 
being  jeopardized,  society  at  large  should  know  about  it, 
and  the  proper  authorities  should  take  steps  to  avert  the 
danger.  Far-reaching  studies,  therefore,  whether  made 
by  the  government  or  by  private  organizations,  must  al- 
ways be  the  basis  of  enlightened  betterment  undertakings. 
The  true  story  of  industry  must  be  told  whether  condi- 
tions be  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  persons  high  in  political  or  social  life  may  be  in- 
volved. The  pressure  of  public  sentiment  might  lead 
such  persons  to  have  their  establishments  above  reproach 
in  the  future. 

Among  private  organizations  conducting  investigations, 
and  striving  to  establish  a  higher  standard  in  industry,  is 
163 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

the   Consumers'    League,  with  national  ^  headquarters  in 
New  York  City,  and  branches  in  various  states. 

The  work  of  the  league  is  based  on  a  recognition  of 
the  consumer's  place  in  determining  the  conditions  of  pro- 
duction and  distribution.  The  league  sees  clearly  that, 
under  the  lash  of  competition,  merchants  frequently  en- 
danger public  health  and  public  morals ;  the  former,  by 
placing  on  the  market  ready-made  clothing  fresh  from 
the  sweater's  den,  and  often  foul  with  disease ;  the  latter, 
by  subjecting  saleswomen  and  children  to  undue  hardships, 
not  even  mitigated  by  adequate  wages.  People  generally 
are  not  accustomed  to  think  of  these  dangers,  or,  if  they  do 
think  of  them  occasionally,  they  are  apt  to  dismiss  such 
unpleasant  thoughts  from  their  minds  as  disturbing  and 
useless.  They  know  too  well  the  futility  of  individual 
efforts.  Such  persons  would  not  find  their  efforts  futile 
if  they  cooperated  with  a  league  the  aims  and  methods 
of  which  may  be  learned  from  the  following  statement 
issued  by  the  Consumers'  League  of  New  York  City : 

Aim,  —  Through  public  sentiment  to  improve  industrial 
conditions  for  women  and  children  by  securing  strict 
regulation  of  child  labor,  and  a  shorter  working  day  for 
women  employed  in  factories  and  stores.  To  obtain  for 
all  consumers  pure  food  and  garments  made  under  sani- 
tary conditions. 

Me f hod, — To  urge  the  shopping  pubHc  to  give  their 
custom  to  the  fairest  employers,  thus  making  it  commer- 
cially profitable  for  others  to  come  up  to  the  same  standard. 

Closely  allied  with  investigation,  and  often  a  direct  re- 
sult of  it,  is  the  making  of  laws  designed  to  lessen  the 
hardships  of  the  workers. 

1  The  fact  that  Mrs.  Florence  Kelly  directs  the  national  work  is  suffi- 
cient indication  of  its  great  value. 

164 


s  Types  of  State  Legislation  for  Wage-e, 


Regulating      working     time      of 


UPLIFTING   FORCES 

Legislation.  —  As  a  result  of  agitation  based,  in  most 
instances,  on  the  exposure  of  specific  cases  of  industrial 
injustice,  many  of  the  states  have  enacted  laws  for  the 
protection  of  women.  The  states  with  recently  developed 
manufacturing  interest  are  allowing  evils  to  pass  un- 
noticed by  law  in  the  eagerness  for  commercial  expansion. 
The  same  course  was  followed  in  the  older  states,  until 
there  came  a  revulsion  of  popular  feeling,  and  thinking 
people  insisted  upon  protecting  wage-earning  women  from 
rapacious  employers. 

The  accompanying  table  is  designed  to  show  the  legal 
protection  afforded  to  women  in  industry.^ 

Following  a  consideration  of  the  state's  method  of 
helping  labor,  may  fittingly  come  a  discussion  of  labor's 
own  awakening. 

Trade  Unions.  —  For  about  half  a  century  trade  or- 
ganizations have  been  striving  by  fair  means  and  foul  to 
get  a  voice  in  the  conduct  of  business  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  improving  their  own  condition.  The  ends  for 
which  they  have  striven  are  laudable.  They  have  been 
calling  for  sanitary  workshops  and  living  wages,  for  shorter 
hours  and  greater  certainty  of  employment,  and  all  the 
time  emphasizing  their  right  to  be  heard.  This  movement 
is  especially  worthy  of  notice,  because  it  is  a  movement  by 
the  wage-workers  for  the  wage-workers.  This,  in  theory 
at  least,  should  be  the  most  hopeful  of  all  undertakings. 
These  people  have  set  up  for  themselves  a  definite  stand- 
ard of  living  which  they  hope  to  attain  when  thoroughly 
organized  in  their  trades. 

Whatever  may  be  said  about  the  methods  sometimes 
employed  by  trade  unions,  it  must  be  admitted  that  their 

1  The  Bulletins  of  Labor  issued  bimonthly  in  Washington,  D.C.,  en- 
able one  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  changes  that  come  from  time  to  time. 

165 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

theory  of  industrial  betterment  is  sound.  They  are  at- 
tempting to  push  themselves  up  against  forces  frequently 
conspiring  to  keep  them  down.  This  opposition  has  lent 
a  strength  and  militant  vigor  to  their  purpose.  Indus- 
trial betterment  of  this  kind  must  tend  to  produce  a  virile 
body  of  citizens,  and  the  test  of  any  ameHorative  work 
must,  in  the  last  analysis,  be  the  effectiveness  of  the  citi- 
zens it  produces. 

Trade  unionism  has  only  recently  seized  the  imagination 
of  women.  Its  possibilities  are  just  beginning  to  be  real- 
ized by  representative  bodies  of  women,  and  by  wage- 
earners  themselves. 

Many  women  feel  that  their  stay  in  the  industrial  world 
is  temporary,  and  they  are  either  indifferent  to  the  condi- 
tions under  which  they  must  work  for  a  time,  or  they  are 
unwilling  to  submit  to  what  they  frequently  regard  as  the 
tyranny  of  leaders,  preferring  rather  to  endure  low  wages 
and  bad  sanitation,  if  need  be,  till  marriage  sets  them  free. 
But  the  more  intelligent  women  see  the  advantages  of  or- 
ganization, and  are  uniting  with  others  of  their  trade  for 
mutual  benefit. 

Strong  unions  of  women  were  found  in  New  York  and 
Chicago,  and  also  in  some  of  the  smaller  cities  included 
in  this  investigation.  Mere  numbers  alone  do  not  tell 
the  strength  of  unionism.  In  fact,  it  is  extremely  hard  to 
get  accurate  information  about  membership,  both  on  ac- 
count of  poor  bookkeeping,  and  fear  lest  known  facts  of 
membership  will  militate  against  individuals. 

This  movement  has  received  a  great  impetus  during  the 
last  few  years  from  the  Woman's  Trade  Union  League,  a 
vigorous  organization  of  trade  unionists,  and  non-wage- 
earners  in  sympathy  with  the  ideals  of  unionism.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  definite  work  of  promoting  organization,  the 
i66 


UPLIFTING  FORCES 

league  has  accomplished  much  in  the  way  of  fostering  a 
sentiment  in  favor  of  organized  labor  among  those  who 
have  been  heretofore  antagonistic.  There  is  a  National^ 
League  which  is  doing  aggressive  work,  and  there  are 
virile  state  leagues  maintaining  offices  in  New  York, 
Chicago,  Boston,  and  St.  Louis. 

But  the  wage- earner  is  not  alone  in  desiring  better 
conditions.  Many  employers  are  giving  much  time,  at- 
tention, and  money  in  trying  to  bring  about  more  pleas- 
ant relations  with  their  employees,  and  the  efforts  of  such 
men  are  worthy  of  consideration. 

Employers'  Welfare  Work.  —  Several  hundred  em- 
ployers in  the  United  States  are  carrying  on  some  kind 
of  betterment  work  for  their  employees,  while  a  dozen 
or  more  stand  out  prominently  for  their  unusual,  even 
notable,  undertakings.  In  general,  Welfare  Work  in- 
cludes:  I.  Improved  physical  conditions;  2.  Oppor- 
tunity for  rest  and  recreation  ;  3.  Educational  features ; 
and  4.  Benefit  funds.  Each  of  these  things  is  good  in 
itself,  as  employees  well  know,  but  they  often  view  the  em- 
ployer's effort  to  bestow  them  with  poorly  masked  suspi- 
cion. They  enjoy  social  and  recreational  facilities,  but 
their  interest  centers  in  higher  wages,  which  will  enable 
them  to  provide  themselves  with  the  good  things  of  life. 

On  the  employer's  side  there  is  always  the  temptation 
to  turn  to  business  profit  the  improved  conditions  his 
generosity  has  made  possible,  and  so  his  Welfare  Work 
may  degenerate  into  mere  advertising,  and  his  employees 
be  exploited  to  their  humiliation. 

But  we  must  make  a  clear  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  schemes  of  an  enterprising  publicity  agent  and  genu- 

1  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins  is  president  of  the   National  League,  and 
the  headquarters  are  at  275  La  Salle  St.,  Chicago. 
167 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

ine,  purposeful  betterment  activities.  The  value  of  Wel- 
fare Work  must  ever  depend  on  the  employer  who 
undertakes  it ;  and  when  he  is  the  means  of  rousing  his 
employees  to  action,  of  encouraging  them  to  evolve 
methods  of  self-improvement,  and  of  stimulating  them  to 
an  appreciation  of  the  value  of  doing  things  for  themselves, 
he  has  made  a  contribution  to  the  solution  of  industrial 
difficulties.  Labor  and  Capital  working  together  for 
mutual  advantage  is  undoubtedly  the  ideal  relationship. 

We  have  found  that  wage- earning  woman  has  evoked 
interest  in  her  well-being  in  the  ranks  of  labor,  and 
among  employers,  as  well  as  in  state  and  nation,  but  these 
are  not  all.  Each  community  furnishes  its  quota  of  ac- 
tivities which  are  directly,  as  well  as  indirectly,  helping 
the  girl  who  works  to  meet  her  difficult  problems.  The 
ones  which  we  shall  consider  here  may  be  classed  as  Un- 
dertakings OF  Interested  Groups  and  Individuals,  and 
these  include  Social  Settlements,  the  Association  of  Work- 
ing Girls'  Clubs,  Housing  efforts,  and  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations,  which  will  now  be  considered  in 
the  foregoing  order. 

Social  Settlements.  —  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  speak  of 
the  great  educational  and  social  work  for  young  wage- 
earning  women  carried  on  in  the  large  cities,  and  in  some 
smaller  ones,  by  the  institutions  known  to  the  world 
through  such  inspired  workers  as  Jane  Addams  and  Mary 
McDowell  in  Chicago,  and  LilHan  Wald  and  Mary  Kings- 
bury Simkhovitch  in  New  York.  Settlements  have  come 
to  be  recognized  as  a  force  of  permanent  value  wherever 
they  exist.  In  one  New  England  town  the  sole  meeting 
place  for  mill  girls  was  the  little  settlement  house,  and  the 
girls  who  found  their  way  there  felt  repaid  for  the  effort 
it  cost  after  a  long,  weary  day  at  their  machines. 
i68 


UPLIFTING   FORCES 

The  settlements  in  New  York  and  Chicago  have  been 
at  the  forefront  in  urging  a  careful  study  of  working  con- 
ditions, as  well  as  in  directing  certain  specific  studies 
from  time  to  time.  It  is  well  understood  that  settlement 
leaders  successfully  urged  upon  Congress  the  necessity 
for  its  recent  investigation  of  the  work  of  women  and 
children,  —  the  investigation  referred  to  earlier  in  this 
chapter.  In  other  ways,  too,  they  contribute  to  the  lives 
of  working  girls.  They  make  possible  social  meetings, 
educational  classes,  and  summer  outings  that  would  other- 
wise be  impossible  for  thousands  of  young  women  in  the 
great  cities. 

The  Association  of  Working  Girls'  Clubs.  —  The  name 
of  Grace  H.  Dodge  must  ever  be  associated  with  clubs 
for  working  girls,  for  out  of  her  work  in  New  York  City, 
more  than  twenty  years  ago,  has  grown  an  organization 
that  bids  fair  to  become  nation  wide  in  its  scope.  While 
the  Association  of  Working  Girls'  Clubs  is  at  present  con- 
fined to  the  Eastern  states,  the  same  type  of  club  is  found 
all  over  the  country.  Miss  Dodge's  own  definition  of 
such  a  club  is,  ''  an  organization  formed  among  busy 
women  and  busy  girls  to  secure  by  cooperation  means 
of  self-support,  opportunities  for  social  intercourse,  and 
the  development  of  higher  and  nobler  aims."  In  these 
clubs  women  of  different  social  grades  meet  on  a  com- 
mon footing  and  are  mutually  helpful. 

In  1885  a  dozen  clubs  with  a  membership  of  several 
hundred  united  under  the  name  of  the  New  York  Associ- 
ation of  Working  Girls'  Societies,  and  this,  after  some 
years,  was  absorbed  by  an  Interstate  League  embracing 
five  state  associations  with  affiliated  clubs  in  other  states, 
and  having  a  membership  of  some  thousands.  The  ac- 
tivities of  this  organization  in  New  York  typify  all,  and 
169 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

will  serve  to  show  the  scope  of  their  undertakings.  One 
of  the  most  important  features  is  a  mutual  benefit  fund  in 
which  girls  are  insured  against  sickness  or  death  at  a  rate 
of  twenty-five  or  forty  cents  a  month.  This  carries  with 
it,  also,  certain  hospital  privileges.  Then  there  are  sum- 
mer homes  where  girls  may  enjoy  a  vacation  for  $4  a 
week.  This  does  not  place  summer  outings  within  the 
reach  of  the  most  poorly  paid  workers,  but  there  are 
many  others  to  whom  this  rate  is  a  boon. 

For  these  and  other  reasons  the  association  deserves  to 
succeed.     It  is  an  ameliorative  force  of  much  importance. 

It  is  but  a  step  in  thought  from  the  club  for  social  and 
inspirational  purposes  to  the  residential  club,  where  girls 
may  live  amid  good  surroundings  for  a  reasonable  rate. 
This  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  attempts  to  house- 
working  women. 

Housing  of  Wage-earning  Women.  —  In  many  of  the  in- 
dustrial centers  where  our  investigation  carried  us,  we 
found  "  homes,'*  hotels,  or  clubs  maintained,  by  philan- 
thropically  disposed  persons,  for  girls  on  a  low  wage. 
The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  is  a  pioneer 
in  this  direction,  and  its  boarding  homes  may  be  found 
in  every  city  of  considerable  size  in  the  United  States. 
Other  organizations  and  individuals  have  undertaken 
similar  work,  until  now  the  cry  is  raised  in  some  quarters 
that  such  institutions  are  a  menace  to  the  girls  who  are 
fighting  for  a  higher  wage.  Undoubtedly  they  would  be 
undesirable  if  they  made  wage-earners  objects  of  charity, 
but  when  they  represent  an  honest  effort  to  supply  a 
pleasant  home  at  a  low  rate  to  young  girls  away  from  the 
restraining  influence  of  their  parents,  and  when  the  cost 
of  accommodation  is  actually  paid  for,  there  should  be  no  ^ 
objections  raised. 

170 


UPLIFTING   FORCES 

It  is  extremely  difficult  for  young  women  to  find  satis- 
factory boarding  places  in  great  cities,  and  much  of  the 
annual  moral  wreckage  can  be  traced  to  the  forlorn  isola- 
tion of  the  hall  bedroom.  So  it  would  seem  that  coopera- 
tive, self-supporting,  self-governing,  residential  clubs  could 
fill  an  urgent  need,  particularly  among  girls  who  are  young, 
inexperienced,  and  poorly  paid.  There  are  a  number  of 
such  homes  in  existence,  and  their  work  is  deserving  of 
commendation.  The  Eleanor  Clubs  ^  of  Chicago  may  be 
cited  as  an  illustration,  because  they  have  passed  the  ex- 
perimental stage,  as  the  initial  club  represents  twelve 
years  of  successful  achievement.  There  are  now  five 
clubs  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  accommodating  in  all 
about  350  guests  at  a  rate  of  from  $2.75  to  ^4.50  a  week. 
The  plan  of  organization  is  to  equip  a  house  large  enough 
for  at  least  sixty  guests,  and  to  put  this  in  charge  of  a 
broad-minded  superintendent,  and  the  necessary  house- 
keeping and  clerical  assistants.  A  fund  of  a  few  hundred 
dollars  is  then  advanced  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the 
first  month  or  two,  and  the  house  is  ready  for  occupancy. 
Each  club  has  attractive  parlors  for  the  use  of  residents  and 
their  friends,  and  a  library  and  reading-room  for  the  free 
use  of  all.  Laundry  privileges  are  provided  at  a  nominal 
charge,  and  sewing-machines  are  furnished  for  general  use. 

The  income  from  guests  covers  all  the  expenses  of  the 
clubs,  including  interest  on  the  sum  spent  for  furnishings, 
and  advanced  in  each  case  by  the  president  of  the  or- 
ganization operating  the  clubs.  This  interest  is  turned 
over  to  a  fund  for  the  benefit  of  sick  or  needy  girls. 
The  secret  of  the  financial  success  of  the  clubs  is  expert 
business  administration. 

i  Operated  by  the  Eleanor  Association,  40  Randolph  St.,  Chicago, 
Miss  Ina  Law  Robertson,  President. 

171 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

There  are  many  educational,  social,  and  recreational 
features  connected  with  the  clubs,  and  a  summer  camp 
admirably  planned,  constructed,  and  managed  is  main- 
tained at  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin.  A  long  waiting  list 
testifies  to  the  popularity  of  the  Eleanor  Clubs  among  the 
girls  who  work  in  various  occupations  in  Chicago. 

In  all  such  undertakings  some  one  must  be  found  to 
carry  the  burdens  of  organization  and  administration, 
since  busy  young  girls  have  neither  the  time  nor  ex- 
perience, and  seldom  the  requisite  initiative.  Working 
women  coming  together  in  such  groups  have  unusual 
opportunities  for  self-improvement,  and  for  developing  a 
much-needed  esprit  de  corps. 

The  last  specific  work  which  remains  to  be  considered 
among  the  uplifting  forces  in  communities  where  young 
women  are  following  industrial  careers  is  — 

The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  —  For  over 
a  generation  this  organization  has  been  trying  to  meet 
the  needs  of  working  girls  all  over  the  country.  To  this 
end,  it  has  erected  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars' 
worth  of  buildings  where  classes  are  conducted  for  a 
small  fee,  and  clubs  of  various  kinds  meet,  and  social 
gatherings  are  held.  Besides  this,  the  association  carries 
on  work  in  over  four  hundred  factories  throughout  the 
country.  It  maintains  lunch  and  rest  rooms  in  these 
estabhshments,  and  strives  to  make  the  noon  hour  and 
other  free  time  pleasant.  The  many  interesting  enter- 
tainments are  managed  by  committees  of  the  girls  in 
cooperation  with  the  industrial  secretary  of  the  associa- 
tion. So  valuable  do  employers  regard  this  work  that 
they  support  it  generously. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  activities  the  associations 
maintain  employment  bureaus  and,  last  year,  found  em- 
172 


UPLIFTING   FORCES 

ployment  for  over  twenty  thousand  girls.  The  Brooklyn 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  furnishes  an  ex- 
cellent example  of  what  a  model  employment  bureau 
can  do  in  a  community.  This  department  is  in  the 
hands  of  well-trained  women  who,  through  a  masterly 
system  of  cooperation  with  various  city  institutions,  keep 
in  touch  with  worthy  girls  and  women  in  need  of  work. 
But  the  association  is  not  content  merely  to  fill  places ; 
it  carries  on  an  elaborate  system  of  investigation,  so  that 
the  bureau  may  know  the  character  of  the  establishments, 
as  well  as  the  requirements  of  the  positions.  This  work 
has  developed  along  the  lines  of  the  Alliance  Employ- 
ment Bureau  in  New  York,  and  the  Women's  Educational 
and  Industrial  Union  in  Boston,  both  of  which  organiza- 
tions are  doing  notable  work  in  investigation  as  well  as 
in  finding  positions  for  girls. 

The  Brooklyn  Association  maintains  in  addition  to 
many  other  activities  a  well-equipped  night  school  where 
girls  may  learn  anything  from  milHnery  to  English  literature. 
Besides  a  religious  service  on  Sunday  afternoon,  there  is  a 
flourishing  Social  Problems  Club,  where,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  prominent  speakers,  young  working  women  discuss 
questions  relating  to  industry  and  social  organization. 
This  is  the  story  of  one  prosperous  association,  but 
similar  stories  could  be  told  of  scores  of  others  all  over 
the  land. 

At  first  glance  one  might  suppose  that  such  an  array 
of  nation-wide  undertakings  as  has  been  presented,  when 
added  to  countless  local  efforts,  would  reach  every  woman 
working  for  a  daily  wage.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  thou- 
sands of  girls  never  come  in  contact  with  any  uplifting 
agency.  They  know  the  nickel  theaters,  and  the  dance 
halls,  and  the  glare  of  the  streets,  but  they  know  nothing 
173 


WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN 

of  the  pleasant  entertainments  open  to  them  in  places 
entirely  safe  in  character.  During  our  investigation  we 
found  many  girls  in  Chicago  who  had  never  heard  of  the 
public  library;  girls  in  New  York  who  looked  bewildered 
when  told  about  social  settlements;  and  girls  in  New 
England  towns  who  did  not  know  that  there  were  places 
where  they  could  have  a  good  time  and  remain  decent. 

There  is  undoubtedly  need  for  concerted  action.  All 
organizations  should  work  together  to  extend  their  benefits, 
and  to  eliminate  wasteful  duplication  of  effort.  In  the 
extension  of  opportunity  to  wage-earning  women,  there 
is  work  for  all.  Trained  students  of  society,  practical 
social  workers,  and  all  good  citizens  should  cooperate 
in  aggressive  action  to  make  our  democracy  more  of  a 
reality  in  the  industrial  world. 


174 


CHAPTER  XI 
Suggestions  for  Improvement 

One  cannot  tarry  long  with  young  working  women 
without  feeling  the  great  lack  of  opportunity  in  too  many 
of  their  lives.  Their  very  youth  is  often  a  handicap. 
They  were  drawn  into  industry  before  they  learned 
how  to  do  anything  well,  and  they  have  rushed  along, 
sometimes  in  a  daring,  sometimes  in  a  hopeless,  fashion, 
now  acquiring  skill  and  again  dropping  below  medioc- 
rity or  never  rising  above  gross  incompetency.  These 
young  creatures  have  but  little  choice  of  occupation. 
They  drift  inevitably  into  the  shop  or  into  the  factory, 
according  to  local  circumstances.  The  department  store 
lures  schoolgirls  into  its  maw  because  of  its  many  surface 
attractions,  and  they  frequently  fare  worse  than  those  who 
earn  their  daily  bread  making  boxes  or  clothes  or  work- 
ing with  the  dirty  textiles. 

So  many  doors  stand  invitingly  open  to  the  unskilled 
that  it  does  not  occur  to  girls  that  they  could  do  much 
better  if  they  only  knew  how  to  do  some  one  thing  even 
fairly  well.  Experiments  in  the  Manhattan  Trade  School, 
for  example,  have  proved,  beyond  a  doubt,  the  great  value 
of  trade  training  to  the  young  girl  who  must  work.  Her 
parents  are  the  gainers  in  the  end,  since  her  skill  enables 
her  to  get  a  much  higher  wage  at  the  start  than  she  could 
otherwise  obtain.  It  is  true  that  such  opportunity  for 
trade  instruction  is  not  possible  for  all,  and  yet  it  does 
not  seem  too  much  to  hope  that  the  not  distant  future 
175 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

will  see  the  public  schools  supplying  in  a  measure  this 
type  of  training. 

If  woman  is  to  work  in  the  industrial  world,  then  it  be- 
hooves society  to  make  her  an  efficient  worker.  Too 
many  wage- earners  to-day  are  inefficient.  Every  one 
knows  how  difficult  it  is  to  get  anything  done  in  a  satis- 
factory manner,  whether  it  be  plumbing  or  making 
clothes.  One  of  the  great  needs,  then,  is  a  higher  stand- 
ard of  efficiency  for  all  types  of  work. 

The  expectation  of  a  rather  short  working  life  on  the 
part  of  most  girls  is  thought  to  account  for  their  luke- 
warm interest  in  acquiring  great  skill  along  any  line.  Yet 
it  seems  that  interest  might  be  stimulated  by  the  right 
type  of  training  in  the  schools  before  the  wage-earning 
age  is  reached.  This  is  something  to  aim  at.  In  the 
meantime,  other  organizations  might  well  extend  oppor- 
tunities of  which  girls  could  avail  themselves  outside  of 
working  hours,  where  this  could  be  done  without  injury 
to  health.^  While  we  deplore  the  lack  of  efficiency  in 
many  women  workers,  we  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that 
others  have  attained  a  high  grade  of  skill  for  which  they 
are  not  adequately  compensated.  The  employer,  when 
he  is  approached  for  higher  wages,  may  charge  the  girl 
with  incompetency,  and  some  will  support  his  contention 
that  he  pays  her  more  than  she  is  worth.  This  is  falla- 
cious. If  it  were  true,  he  would  not  continue  to  employ 
her  on  such  terms. 

Unquestionably,  the  most  serious  problems  that  the 
young  girl  at  work  has  to  face  are  low  wages  and  the 
constant  jeopardizing  of  her  health  by  the  occupation  in 
which   she    engages.     Where    wages   are  concerned,  all 

iThe  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  does  this  systematically 
in  190  cities  and  towns  in  the  United  States. 
176 


SUGGESTIONS   FOR   IMPROVEMENT 

averages  are  deceptive  and  need  to  be  interpreted  in  terms 
of  actual  time  employed  during  fifty-two  weeks  in  any 
year.  It  is  the  exceptional  wage-earning  woman  who  has 
uninterrupted  employment.  And  this  does  not  mean  the 
worker  of  exceptional  ability,  but  rather  the  one  of  unusual 
good  fortune.  Employers  are  too  ready  to  say  that  inter- 
mittent employment  does  not  work  hardship  for  their  -par- 
ticular employees,  inasmuch  as  they  all  live  at  home  and 
welcome  occasional  vacations.  While  it  is  true  that  1304 
of  the  1476  interviewed  in  New  York,  and  1618  of  the 
1914  in  Chicago,  lived  at  home,  it  is  equally  true  that  only 
58  in  the  first  group  and  75  in  the  second  appeared  to 
have  their  earnings  for  personal  use;  that  is,  paid  nothing 
for  board  and  lodging.  The  vicious  and  unsupported 
theory  that  girls  flock  to  the  factories  and  stores  for  "  pin 
money"  seems  even  yet  to  have  a  firm  hold  in  the 
employer's  mind.  The  necessity  for  self-support  becomes 
the  dominant  force  in  driving  the  young  girl  out  to  seek 
employment,  and  in  compelling  her  to  keep  her  place  once 
she  has  obtained  it. 

The  nerve-racking  intensity  of  work  in  a  modern  factory 
makes  a  day's  labor  no  pleasing  pastime.  It  robs  the  girl 
of  her  vitality ;  it  steals  her  youth ;  it  breaks  her  health  ; 
and  too  often  it  blunts  her  moral  sense.  It  would  seem 
that  factory  work  must  be  accommodated  to  the  girl  or 
the  girl  taken  out  of  the  factory.  The  prime  function  of 
woman  in  society  is  not  *^  speeding  up  "  on  a  machine ;  it 
is  not  turning  out  so  many  dozen  gross  of  buttons  or  cans 
in  a  day ;  it  is  not  making  the  heaviest  sale  of  notions,  or 
tending  the  greatest  number  of  looms ;  it  is  not  breaking 
records  in  packing  prunes  or  picking  hops ;  nor  yet 
is  it  outdoing  all  others  in  vamping  shoes  or  spooHng 
cotton. 

N  177 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

The  prime  function  of  woman  must  ever  be  the  perpetu- 
ating of  the  race.  If  these  other  activities  render  her 
physically  or  morally  unfit  for  the  discharge  of  this  larger 
social  duty,  then  woe  to  the  generations  that  not  only  per- 
mit but  encourage  such  wanton  prostitution  of  function. 
The  woman  is  worth  more  to  society  in  dollars  and  cents 
as  the  mother  of  healthy  children  than  as  the  swiftest  la- 
beler  of  cans.  Yet  our  present  industrial  practice  would 
indicate  a  preponderance  of  value  in  the  latter.  Five 
years  of  factory  work  may,  and  frequently  do,  render  a 
a  girl  of  twenty-one  nearly  or  quite  a  physical  wreck,  so 
far  as  normal  functioning  is  concerned.  She  may  live 
thirty  or  forty  years,  she  may  even  continue  as  a  wage- 
earner,  but  at  what  a  cost ! 

It  would  appear  from  this  that  the  plain  duty  of  society 
is  to  have  a  care  for  its  ever  increasing  throng  of  working 
girls.  They  must  be  protected.  Desirable  legislation 
should  be  sought  and  obtained,  and,  moreover,  main- 
tained, regardless  of  constitutional  quibble.  A  shorter 
working  day  and  a  higher  wage  should  be  advocated,  and 
all  types  of  organizations  working  for  industrial  betterment 
should  cooperate  in  the  effort  to  make  America's  wage- 
earning  young  women  fit  daughters  of  the  country's  noblest 
traditions  and  fit  mothers  of  her  future  sons. 

This  is  the  task. 

As  has  been  emphasized  here  before,  much  excellent 
work  for  the  betterment  of  laboring  and  living  conditions 
of  wage-earning  women  is  now  being  done,  but  the  equip- 
ment does  not  begin  to  equal  the  needs.  Increased  effort 
and  ingenuity  devoted  to  securing  desirable  changes  would 
undoubtedly  bring  a  rich  reward  in  the  resulting  industrial, 
social,  and  spiritual  uplift  of  the  people. 

To  recapitulate  and  reenforce  our  belief,  we  present  the 

178 


SUGGESTIONS   FOR   IMPROVEMENT 

following  suggestions  toward   advancement  in  which  all 
betterment  bodies  could  unite  : 

1.  Improved  and  uniform  legislation  in  the  different 
states. 

2.  Disinterested  cooperation  with  employers  to  secure 
better  conditions. 

3.  The  promotion  of  greater  efficiency  on  the  part  of 
employees  by  all  practical  means. 

4.  Reduction  of  the  number  of  hours  in  the  working 
day  and  a  higher  rate  of  payment  for  labor. 

5.  The  establishment  of  residential  clubs  or  hotels  on 
a  self-supporting  basis  for  girls  away  from  home.  Even 
with  a  good  wage  it  is  frequently  hard  for  the  young  girl 
to  find  a  suitable  abiding-place. 

6.  Closer  cooperation  between  existing  organizations 
for  industrial  betterment. 

7.  New  organizations  to  be  encouraged  only  where 
special  needs  must  be  met.  Existing  movements  to  be 
strengthened  wherever  their  usefulness  has  been  demons- 
trated. Such  an  attitude  would  be  economically  and  ethi- 
cally sound. 

8.  Far-reaching  studies  in  regard  to  the  specific  effect 
of  different  occupations  on  health.  This  is  the  great  need 
in  every  industrial  center. 

And  last,  but  extremely  important, 

9.  A  change  in  the  character  of  recreational  opportunities 
now  available.  In  no  community  do  wholesome  recreational 
facilities  have  a  higher  functional  value  than  in  industrial 
towns.  The  fatigue  and  the  monotony  of  long  hours 
of  toil  make  necessary,  for  the  few  hours  of  leisure, 
forms  of  activity  which  will  bring  refreshment  by  offer- 
ing new  interest  and  variety.  The  working  girl  does 
not  need  merely  to  be  amused,  she  needs  to  be  stimu- 

179 


WAGE-EARNING   WOMEN 

lated  by  an  interest  stronger  than  any  her  work  can  hold 
for  her. 

Constructive  work  along  these  lines  would  do  much  to 
offset  the  devitahzing  tendencies  of  modern  industry.  We 
ask  all  this  that  the  young  girl  in  the  shop  and  at  the  ma- 
chine "  may  have  life  and  have  it  more  abundantly." 


1 80 


APPENDICES,  BIBLIOGRAPHY 
AND    INDEX 


APPENDIX   I 
LIST  OF  INVESTIGATORS 

New  England: 

Clawson,  Edith,  A.B. 

Hewes,  Amy,  Ph.D. 

Merrill,  Flora  A.,  A.B. 

Rhoades,  Mabel  C,  Ph.D. 
New  York  City  and  New  Jersey: 

Beavers,  Genevieve  W.,  A.B. 

Casamajor,  Alice,  M.A. 

Conyngton,  Mary  K.,  M.A. 

Manning,  Caroline,  M.A. 

Mead,  Belle,  A.M. 

Packard,  Charlotte  M.,  Mus.  B. 

Stecker,  Margaret  L.,  A.B. 

Stephens,  Ada  M.,  A.B. 

WeUes,  Julia  T.,  A.B. 

Wynbladh,  Sigrid,  A.B. 
Pennsylvania: 

Foote,  Alice  E.,  A.B. 

Tanner,  Amy  E.,  Ph.D. 
Middle  West,  including  Chicago: 

Abbott,  Bonnie  E.,  A.B. 

Burton,  Margaret  E.,  A.B. 

Kringel,  Mary  L.,  A.M. 

Lyman,  Grace,  Ph.B. 

MacLean,  Mildred,  A.M. 

Miller,  Helen  D.,  Ph.B. 

Phelps,  Clara  L.,  A.B. 

Stewart,  Zelda  E., 

Terry,  Edith  B.,  A.B. 
Far  West: 

Eaves,  Ruth,  A.B. 

Evans,  Helen,  B.L. 

Gray,  Jean,  A.B. 

Spadoni,  Adrienne,  B.L. 

183 


APPENDIX  II 

SCHEDULES 
SCHEDULE  I  — FOR  EMPLOYERS 

FOR  THE   SOCIOLOGICAL   INVESTIGATION   COMMITTEE 

Acting  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Board  of  Y.W.C.A.'s 

Confidential  Information 

Name Location 

Industry. 


Number  employed ^Number  of  women  employed.. 

Betterment  work  conducted 


Attitude  toward  betterment  work  on  a  Christian  basis  . 


Remarks  - 


184 


APPENDIX   II 

SCHEDULE  II— FOR  TOWN  OR  CITY 
FOR  THE   SOCIOLOGICAL   INVESTIGATION   COMMITTEE 

Acting  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Board  of  Y.W.C.A.'s 

Name Population 

Chief  industries 


Number  of  establishments  employing  women. 

Number  of  women  employed 

Nationalities 


Local  efforts  in  behalf  of  these  women. . 


Comments. 


185 


APPENDIX  II 

SCHEDULE  III  — FOR  MINING  REGIONS 

FOR   THE    SOCIOLOGICAL   INVESTIGATION   COMMITTEE 

Acting  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Board  of  Y.W.C.A.'s 

Name  of  place Population 

Special  industry 

Number  employed Women 

Nationalities 

Other  women  in  community :    occupations 


Nationalities.  _  _ 
Housing  conditions- 
Social  life 


Amusements. 

Clubs  or  centers  for  women__ 


Church  undertakings  in  behalf  of  women- 


Remarks. 


1 86 


APPENDIX   II 

SCHEDULE  IV  — HOMES  FOR  WORKING  WOMEN 

FOR   THE   SOCIOLOGICAL   INVESTIGATION   COMMITTEE 

Acting  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Board  of  Y.W.C.A.'s 

City Population 

Women  employed Number  not  living  at  home 

Name  of  home 

Street  and  number. 

Number  accommodated Age  limit 

Wage  limit 

Cost  per  week 

Under  auspices  of 


Regulations- 


Self-supporting- 
Comments 


187 


APPENDIX  II 

SCHEDULE  V 

Information  Concerning  Individuals  (Confidential) 
FOR  THE   SOCIOLOGICAL   INVESTIGATION   COMMITTEE 

Acting  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Board  of  Y.W.C.A.'s 

Name  (or  initials) Nationality -Age — 

Marital  condition JBorn  in  city  or  country 

Reason  for  coming  to  city 

Attitude  toward  returning  to  country 

Industry 

Establishment Address 

Form  of  employment 

How  long  employed Average  wage Dependents 

General  conditions  of  establishment:  Light Air Height  (in  stories). . 

Elevators Regulations  as  to  use 

Lunch  room  for  women Dressing  rooms 

Separate  toilets Seats  provided Length  of  day. 

Overtime Payment  for  overtime Fines  imposed 

Mutual  Benefit  Association .Weekly  dues 

Benefits  in  sickness Burial  or  death  benefits 

Housing  conditions:  Living  at  home Cost  per  week 

Boarding  house Cost  per  week 

Lodging  house Cost  per  week Cost  of  meals  per  week 

Opportunities  for  social  life:  At  home 

Boarding  house Lodging  house Clubs 

Opportunities  for  study :  Classes  or  lectures Subject  preferred 

Club  work Libraries 

Recreation :  Theater Other  forms  of  amusement 

Favorite  form Sum  per  week  spent  for  amusement 

Vacation _With  or  without  pay How  long 

Where  spent Cost Chief  pleasure 

Church  attendance Sundays Week  days 

i88 


APPENDIX  III 

Four  tables  of  statistics  ^  relative  to  women  wage-earners 
in  the  United  States. 

Table  I. 

Comparative  statement  in  regard  to  women  wage-earners 
in  the  United  States  in  the  three  decades  from  1880  to  1900. 

Table  II. 

Race  and  nativity  of  female  breadwinners  in  1900. 
Table  III, 

Women  in  gainful  occupations  classified  by  states  and  terri- 
tories for  1900. 

Table  IV. 

Female  breadwinners,  classified  according  to  occupation, 
race,  nativity,  and  per  cent  of  distribution. 

Table  I 


Females  i6  Years  of  Age  and  Over 

CENSUS 

Total 

Breadwinners 

Number 

Per  cent 

Continental  U.S. 
1900 
1890 
1880 

23,485,559 
18,957,672 

14,752,258 

4,833,630 
3,596,615 
2,353,988 

20.6 
19.0 
16.0 

^  Census  of  1900. 
189 


APPENDIX   III 

Table  II 

Females  i6  Years  of  Age  and 

Over 

RACE  AND  NATIVITY 

Breadv/inners 

TrtTAT 

Number 

Per  cent 

All  classes 

23,482,559 

4,833,6310 

20.6 

Native  white:   both  pa- 

rents native 

12,130,161 

1,771,966 

14.6 

Native  white:    one    or 

both  parents  foreign 

born 

4,288,969 

1,090,744 

254 

Foreign-born  white 

4,403,494 

840,011 

19.I 

Negro 

2,589,988 

1,119,621 

43.2 

Indian  and  Mongolian 

72,947 

11,288 

15.5 

190 


Table  IV  — Female  Breadwinners,  i6  Years  of  Age  a 


)  Occupation,  Race,  . 


>  Percent  of  Distribution 


Nu"beh 

PERCENT 

NUMBER 

PERCENT 

occupation 

'"'— 

S! 

NE0.0 

Indian 

'Se' 

«... 

=°'JiSr'= 

BoS"p^a^„.s 
Foreign  Born 

WmiE 

BothParents 

p£Si;^ 

--™ 

All  occupations 
Agricultural  pursuits 
Agricultural  laborers 

Other  agricultural  pursuits 
Professional  service 
Actresses,  professional  showwomen,  etc. 
Artists  and  teachers  of  art 

4,833,630 

456!4oS 

307,766 

5,944 

s!9S4 

i 

13^6 

''26l;639 
82,565 

275,110 
7;S84 

'    25^763 

18)663 

864 

112,767 

1,983 

2,361 

840,011 
40,8.74 
4,543 
34,975 

25)g 

87° 

1,119,621 

361)804 
7i,6&5 

15.508 
246 
83 

11,288 
4,738 
1,257 

8 
238 

2,696 

li 
462 
48 

2 
39 

6 

6 
2,062 

267 

10s 
1.587 

1.356 

36.7 
18)1 
58.3 

44-2 
64.1 

63-5 
30.7 

53-4 

16)8 

40.3 

46)5 
63-4 

30.9 
35-7 

53-3 

314 

31-9 
29.7 
55-4 
27.9 
29.4 

26.0 

Si 

25.0 

43-5 
35-3 
43-4 

391 
34)8 

14-5 
26.3 
29.8 

23-9 
19.2 

24-3 
45)6 

36)1 
57-4 

45-2 

i 
1 

37-5 

lit 
34-4 

30.2 

38)4 
32.0 

5-3 
5-1 

i!i 

48)6 

24)6 
27.6 

33-0 

6)9 
6.2 

30.2 

^8)^ 
24.6 
32.8 

^8)^ 
16.4 

1 

56)4 

?i 
3-6 

tl 
0.4 

32.5 

1)8 
6.4 

6s.6 
65.4 
26)9 

2-5 

1-3 

2-7 

0.9 

0-3 
3)6 

0.5 
0-5 

"i 

0.3 

8)8 

Musicians  and  teachers  of  music 
Officials  (Government) 
Physicians  and  surgeons 
Teachers  and  professors  in  colleges,  etc. 
Other  professional  service 
Domestic  and  personal  service 
Barbers  and  hairdressers 
Boarding  and  lodging-house  keepers 
Hotel  keepers 

Janitors  and  sextons 
Laborers  (not  specified) 

Nurses  and  midwives 
Servants  and  waitresses 
Other  domestic  and  personal  service 
Trade  and  transportation 
Agents 

Bookkeepers  and  accountants 
Clerks  and  copyists 
Merchants  and  dealers  (retail) 
Packers  and  shippers 
Saleswomen 

Stenographers  and  typewriters 
Telegraph  and  telephone  operators 
Others  in  trade  and  transportation 
Manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits 
Bookbinders 

Boot  and  shoemakers,  and  repairers 
Boxmakers  (paper) 
Confectioners 
Glovemakers 
Gold  and  silver  workers 
Paper  and  pulp  mill  operatives 
Prmters,  lithographers,  presswomen 
Rubber  factory  operatives 
Textile-mill  operatives 

Carpet  factory  operatives 

Cotton-mill  operatives 

Hosiery  and  knitting  mill  operatives 

Silk-miU  operatives 

Woolen-mill  operatives 

Other  textile-mill  operatives 
Textile  workers 

Dressmakers 

Hat  and  cap  makers 

MiUiners 

Seamstresses 

Shirt,  collar,  and  cuff  makers 

Tailoresses 

Other  textile  workers 
Tobacco  and  cigar  factory  operatives 
Other  m'f'g  and  mechanical  pursuits 

327,206 

11,223 

1,953,467 

5,440 

8,533 
146,929 
8,010 
106,916 
328,935 
108,691 
1,165,561 

14,91)7 
481,159 

10,468 

72,896 

33325 

85^086 
21,980 
16,587 

I4!303 
36,490 
14,498 

231,458 

27!i69 
44,051 
675,25s 

ii 

27,788 

i9!o43 
I38!574 

6 

8 

6 
I 

3 

t 

56.9 
5^6 

15.6 

86i 
89.9 

;h 

•3-3 

31.0 

76^7 
29.8 

II 
25:8 
233 
10.3 

50.0 
46.2 
48.1 
72.8 
58.. 
40.8 
47-8 

32.4 

96^8 
77.6 

69^1 

2.9 

4,882 
207,823 

6,717 

1,670 
31,756 

5,040 
77,912 

1,348 
21,639 
41,643 
43,764 
305,883 

223I840 
6,641 
35,896 
40,984 
10,462 
6,091 
60,120 
45,373 

^4,487 

1? 

3^969 
1,607 
2,558 
8,453 

2,164 
35.079 
12,333 
8,571 
6,803 
9,667 
293,664 
152,821 

45^186 
60,223 

i4!o87 
7,444 
48^204 

13,347 
1,520 

2,670 

325,788 

11 

1,916 
6,778 
28,727 

2231327 

1931528 

3o|6io 
8;2i8 
64)857 

4,899 
432,898 

16)500 

3,528 
2,138 
3,029 
3,899 
5,703 

3,648 

10)606 

11)380 
20,284 

117)287 
2,987 
28,748 

11)665 
23,631 

58)748 

3,349 

1,526 

445,744 
1,002 

7,925 

26)702 
322,062 

59)773 
1,313 

7)368 
14,254 
2,426 
16,896 
5,845 
1,355 

257)793 
5)201 
1)894 
1)129 

2)180 
78,833 

41)514 
14)038 

122,847 
55,523 
1.569 
8,829 

4)598 
3)831 
28)047 

1° 
13.478 

634.083 

3.576 

9,406 
854 

12)672 
313,078 

g 

378 

1,284 
32,069 

!: 
67 

25 
96 

481 

56 

--! 

169 

11,296 

90 
2)219 

0.4 
0.3 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  limitations  of  this  bibliography  are  obvious.  The 
attempt  is  simply  to  suggest  some  magazine  articles/  grouped 
according  to  subject-matter,  with  an  indication  of  contents 
in  order  that  any  phase  of  the  subject  may  readily  be  studied, 
even  by  those  not  familiar  with  the  general  field. 

In  addition  to  this,  there  is  included  a  short  list  of  books 
presenting  the  varied  problems  of  women  who  work.  It  is 
assumed  that  students  of  industrial  conditions  can  readily 
add  to  this  list. 

BOOKS 

Abbott.     '*  Women  in  Industry.'' 

Adams  and  Sumner.     ''  Labor  Problems.'' 

Butler.     ''  Women  and  the  Trades." 

Cadbury,  Matheson,  and  Shann.     ^^  Women's  Work  and 

Wages." 
Ely.     ^'  Labor  Movement  in  America." 
Mitchell.     "  Organized  Labor." 

MAGAZINE  ARTICLES 

General.  —  *'The  Working  Women  of  To-day,"  by  Helen 
Campbell,  the  Arena,  ^  :  329.  Mentions  briefly  the 
changes  which  have  taken  place  in  method  and  kind  of 
women's  work,  and  gives  a  brief  resume  of  the  findings 
of  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  for  1888. 
"The  Conditions  of  Wage-earning  Women,"  by  Clare  de 
Graff enried,  the  Forum,  15  :  68. 

1  Between  the  years  i8go  and  1907. 
191 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

"The  Truth  about  Women  in  Industry/'  by  Flora  Mc- 
Donald Thompson,  the  North  American  Review ,  178 : 
751.     Woman  is  not  a  success  in  industry. 

"More  Truth  about  Women  in  Industry/'  by  Elizabeth 
Carpenter,  the  North  American  Review,  17 g :  215.  A 
refutation  of  above  article. 

"Are  Women  Business  Failures?"  by  Edith  Abbott, 
Harper^ s  Weekly,  4g  :  496.  An  answer  to  Mrs.  Thomp- 
son's two  main  contentions. 

"Women  at  Work  in  the  United  States,"  a  review,  the 
Scientific  American  Supplement,  63  :  26254.  A  review  of 
report  of  Census  Bureau  just  issued  under  direction  of 
Dr.  Joseph  A.  Hill  from  schedules  of  12th  Census 
(1907). 

"Women  Who  Work  and  Women  Who  Spend,"  by  Maud 
Nathan,  the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  27  :  646. 
A  general  article  giving  ways  by  which  women  who 
spend  may  alleviate  conditions  of  women  who  work. 

"The  Condition  of  Working  Women,  from  the  Working 
Woman's  Viewpoint,"  by  Rose  Phelps-Stokes,  the 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  27  ;  627.  A  general 
article  giving  working  girls'  attitude  toward  non-work- 
ers and  would-be  helpers. 

"The  Difficulties  and  Dangers  confronting  the  Working 
Woman,"  by  Dorothy  Richardson,  the  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy,  27  :  624.  Fundamental  difficulty 
with  the  working  woman  is  her  inabihty  for  sustained 
effort. 

"Women  Factory  Workers,"  by  M.  E.  J.  Kelley,  the  Out- 
look,  58 :  269.  Only  successful  means  of  elevating  fac- 
tory worker,  namely  by  means  of  a  female  Felix  Holt. 

"  One  Woman's  Struggle,"  by  H.  W.  B.,  the  Outlook,  72: 
693.  Injustice  for  an  unskilled  woman  worker.  Of 
general  character,  good  campaign  material. 

"  A  Widow's  Autobiography,"  the  Independent,  58 :  ']2, 
192 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  story  of  a  tailoress,  and  the  mental  changes  and 
changes  in  taste  accompanying  change  in  condition. 
Historical  View.  —  "Women  Wage-earners:  Their  Past, 
Their  Present,  and  Their  Future,"  by  Helen  Campbell, 
in  six  parts.     The  Arena. 

Part  I:  vol.  7 ;  153.  Short  review  of  woman's  labor  in 
past. 

Part  II:  7:321.  Rise  and  growth  of  trades  up  to  pres- 
ent time,  and  labor  bureaus  and  their  work  in  relation 
to  women. 

Part  III:  7:453.  Present  wage  rates  in  the  United 
States. 

Part  IV:  7 :  668.  General  conditions  for  English  con- 
tinental workers  and  for  those  in  the  United  States. 

Part  V:  8  :  2,2.     General  conditions  in  the  western  states. 

Part  VI:  ^:  172.  Specific  evils  and  abuses  in  factory 
life,  remedies,  and  suggestions. 

"Woman's  Place  in  Industry  and  Labor  Organizations,'* 
by  Sophie  Yudelson,  the  Annals  of  the  American  Acad- 
emy, 24  :  343.  Historical  position  of  women,  present 
industrial  activity,  wages,  and  labor  organizations. 

"The  History  of  Industrial  Employment  of  Women  in 
.  the  United  States:    an  Introductory  Study,"  by  Edith 
Abbott,   the  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  14:461. 
This  article  discusses  at  length: 

1.  The  industrial    employment    of    women    in    the 

seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 

2.  Statistics  of  the  employment  of  women  in  manu- 

facturing and  mechanical  pursuits  from  1800  to 
1900. 

3.  The  early  attitude  toward  women  in  industry. 
It  is  particularly  full  in  references. 

"Women  in  Manufactures:   a  Criticism,"  by  I.  M.  Rubi- 
now,   the   Journal   of  Political  Economy,   15 :  41.     A 
criticism  of  above  article, 
o  193 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

"Harriet  Martineau  and  the  Employment  of  Women  in 
1836,"  by  Edith  Abbott,  the  Journal  of  Political  Econ- 
omy ^  14 :  614.  An  account  of  woman's  employment 
in  America  before  i860. 

"Employment  of  Women  in  Industries,  12th  Census 
Statistics,"  by  Edith  Abbott  and  Sophonosbia  Breckin- 
ridge, the  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  14  :  14.  Paper 
deals  with  numbers  only:  i,  the  relations  of  the  number 
of  women  gainfully  employed  in  1900  to  1890;  2,  num- 
bers in  which  women  are  going  into  occupations,  and 
extent  of  competition  with  men. 
Wages.  —  "Women's  Wages  in  Manual  Work,"  by  M.  B. 
Hammond,  the  Political  Science  Quarterly,  15 : 
508.  Detailed  study  from  nth  Annual  Report  of 
Commissioner  of  Labor,  on  work  and  wages  of 
men,  women,  and  children,  giving  comparison  of 
women's  wages  with  men's,  and  conclusions.  A 
scholarly  work. 

"Woman  and  the  Wages  Question,"  by  Samuel  M.  Davis, 
the  American  Journal  of  Politics,  4 :  63.  Reasons 
why  women's  wages  are  low. 

"Why  Women  are  paid  less  than  Men,"  by  Carroll  D. 
Wright,  the  Forum,  13 :  629.  Reasons  women  are 
paid  less  than  men,  and  prospect  of  women's  work 
on  future  of  race. 

"Shop-girls  and  Their  Wages,"  by  J.  H.  Hyslop,  the  An- 
dover  Review,  16 :  455.  A  treatment  of  the  problem  of 
inadequate  wages  from  standpoint  of  amelioration  and 
from  fundamental  causes. 
Lodgings.  —  "Homes  for  Working  Women  in  Large  Cities," 
by  Annie  Marion  MacLean,  the  Charities  Review,  g  :  215. 
Brief  account  of  homes  in  several  cities. 

"Girls'  Cooperative  Boarding  Houses,"  by  Robert  Stein, 
the  Arena,  ig  :  2>91'     A  list  of  fifty  homes  in  United 
States   with    cost,    capacity,    self-support   given,    and 
194 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

picture  of  ideal  institution  drawn.     Material  not  up-to- 
date,  valuable  as  far  as  it  goes. 

"Housing  for  Single  Women/'  by  Harriet  Fayes,  Municipal 
Affairs,  3 :  gS-  Needs  of  wage-earners  on  $40  to  $50 
a  month,  answer  to  objections,  what  is  needed,  and  some 
successful  experiments. 

"Do  Working  Women  want  a  Hotel,"  Public  Opinion, 
26  :  78.     Advantages  and  disadvantages. 
Hours  of  Work.  —  "The  Hours  of  Work  of  Women  and 
Children,''  by  Florence  Kelley,  the  Chautauquan,  26 : 
430.     Hours  of  work  in  Illinois. 

"Working  Hours  of  Women  in  Factories,"  by  Mary  Van 
Kleeck,  Charities  and  the  Commons,  17  :  13.  The  long 
day  in  New  York  and  legislation  on  the  subject. 
Physical  Aspect.  —  "The  Physical  Cost  of  Women's 
Work,"  by  A.  Jacobi,  M.D.,  Charities  and  the  Commons, 
17  .•  839.  Some  diseases  suffered  and  contracted  in 
women's  work  under  certain  conditions. 
Employment  in  Certain  Trades.  —  "The  Employment 
of  Girls  in  Textile  Industries  of  Pennsylvania,"  by 
Peter  Roberts,  the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy, 
23 :  434.  Ages  and  numbers  employed,  law  on  sub- 
ject, and  unpaid  cost  to  the  future. 

"Employment  of  Women  in  Industries:  Cigar-making, 
its  History  and  Present  Tendencies,"  by  Edith  Ab- 
bott, the  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  15:  i.  His- 
torical review. 

"Tenement  House  Labor  in  New  York,"  by  Anna  S. 
Daniel,  American  Journal  of  Social  Science,  1892,  p.  73. 

"The  Story  of  a  Sweatshop  Girl,"  by  Sadie  Frowne, 
the  Independent,  54 :  2279.     Pleasant  side  of  life. 

"The  Problem  of  Domestic  Service,"  by  I.  M.  Rubinow, 
the  Journal  of  Political  Economy,   14 :  502.     A  new 
view  of  an  old  problem,  its  tendencies,  and  line  of  least 
resistance  for  future  solution. 
195 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

"Housework  versus  Shops  and  Factories/^  by  Mary  E. 
Trueblood,  the  Independent,  54:2691.  Advantages 
and  disadvantages  of  each,  from  girls'  viewpoint. 

"Two  Weeks  in  Department  Stores,"  by  Annie  Marion 
MacLean,  the  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  4:  721. 
An  inside  account  of  conditions  in  two  stores,  with  side- 
Hght  on  Hves  of  working  girls. 

"A  Salesgirl's  Story,"  the  Independent,  54:  1818.  The 
story  of  a  successful  salesgirl,  working  conditions,  Kfe, 
and  pleasures. 

"The  Sweatshop  in  Summer,"  by  Annie  Marion  MacLean, 
American  Journal  of  Sociology,  g :  289.  First-hand 
study  of  conditions. 
Organizations  and  Trade  Unions.  —  "A  Progressive 
Club  of  Working  Women,"  by  Annie  Marion  MacLean, 
Charities  and  the  Commons,  75  ;  299.  A  short  account 
of  the  Woman's  Century  Club  of  Dayton,  Ohio. 

"Working  Girls'  Clubs,"  by  Helen  Campbell,  Public 
Opinion,  18 :  600.  First  club  organized,  its  growth 
and  success. 

"Guilds  for  Working  Women,"  by  Helen  Campbell,  the 
Chautauquan,  yi :  604.  An  account  of  the  guild  first 
started  in  Philadelphia,  its  work,  and  other  organiza- 
tions. 

"Association  in  Clubs  with  its  Bearing  on  Working 
Women,"  by  Helen  Campbell,  the  Arena,  5  ;  61.  A 
brief  account  of  changes  in  women's  work,  and  the 
need  for  clubs. 

"Model  Working  Girls'  Clubs,"  the  Charities  Review, 
4  :  307.     American  idea  contrasted  with  English. 

"WorMng  Women's  Clubs,"  by  Charlotte  Coffyn  Wil- 
kinson, Gunton's  Magazine,  18 :  520.  Clubs  organ- 
ized and  maintained  by  National  League  of  Women 
Workers. 

"Jennie  Collins  and  her  Boffin's  Bower,"  by  Margaret 
196 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Andrews  Allen,  the  Charities  Review,  2  ;  105.  An  early 
attempt  on  part  of  working  woman  herself  to  better 
conditions. 

''Trade  Unions  for  Women,"  by  Clare  de  Graff enreid. 
Lend  a  Hand,  10:  103.  Why  trade  unions  are  of  advan- 
tage to  women. 

"Labor  Organizations  among  Women,"  by  Martha  S. 
Bensley,  Charities  and  the  Commons,  15 :  384.  A  re- 
view of  the  study  of  the  same  name  by  Belva  May  Her- 
ron  in  the  University  of  Illinois  studies. 
Organizations.  —  ''  Organization  amongst  Working 
Women,"  by  Lillian  D.  Wald,  the  Annals  of  the  Ameri- 
can Academy,  27 :  6^^.  Necessity  of  trade  unions  in 
America  because  of  character  of  American  law,  reasons 
for  success,  results  and  benefits. 

"Women  in  Trade  Unions,"  by  Florence  Kelley,  the  Out- 
look, 84  :  926.  The  need  and  reasons  for  trade  unions, 
why  unstable  and  where,  and  what  they  will  accomplish. 

"The  Betterment  of  the  Conditions  of  Working  Women," 
Edward  A.  Filene,  the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy, 
27 :  613.  Industrial  and  vocational  education,  and 
organization  into  unions  the  remedy  for  women,  and 
why  unions  fail  at  present  time. 
Legislation.  —  "Legislative  Control  of  Women's  Work," 
by  S.  P.  Breckinridge,  and  tables  prepared  by  Frank  P. 
Mils,  the  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  14  :  107.  Tables 
give  statutes,  prohibiting  employment  of  women 
in  various  occupations  and  places;  regulating  the 
working  time  of  women,  —  hours,  overtime,  night  work, 
and  time  for  meals;  statutes  requiring  certain  equip- 
ment in  factories  where  women  are  employed,  and  mis- 
cellaneous information. 

"Factory  Legislation  for  Women  in  the  United  States," 
by  Annie  Marion  MacLean,  the  American  Journal  of 
Sociology,  3:  183.    Historical  development  of  factory 
197 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

system  in  United  States,  and  labor  legislation;  a  resume 
of  laws  of  all  states,  to  1897. 

'The  Necessary  Sequel  of  Child-labor  Laws,"  by  Jose- 
phine C.  Goldmark,  the  American  Journal  of  Sociology j 
II :  312.  Article  deals  with  legislation  in  regard  to 
women's  work  as  to  length  of  working  day,  restrictions, 
and  states,  the  working  of  these  restrictions,  and  neces- 
sary requirements  of  future  labor  legislation. 

'Working  Women  and  the  Laws:  A  Record  of  Neglect," 
by  Josephine  C.  Goldmark,  the  Annals  of  the  American 
Academy,  28:261.  An  account  and  tabular  state- 
ment of  night  work,  where  prohibited,  where  allowed, 
age  of  prohibition,  and  foreign  legislation;  laws  re- 
stricting hours  of  labor,  by  day  and  by  week,  and  where 
not  restricted;  posting  laws;  providing  seats;  toilet 
facilities;    sweatshops;    dangerous  occupations. 


198 


INDEX 


Addams,  Jane,  i68. 
Amusements : 

Favorite  form,  52,  82,  83. 

In  coal  fields,  137,  138. 

See  Recreation. 
Armenians,  117,  122,  123. 
Association  of  Working  Girls'  Clubs, 
46,  169,  170. 

Benefit  societies,  84,  170. 
Betterment  work : 

Encouragement  of  organizations 
for,  179. 

Need  for  cooperation  in,  179. 

Suggestions  for,  179. 
Bibles,  conditions  of  making,  43. 
Bibliography,  189-196. 
Boarding  homes.    See  Homes   for 

working  women. 
Bohemians,  41,  57. 
Breweries : 

Hours  of  work  in,  89,  90. 

Wages  in,  90. 

Women's  work  in,  90. 
Button  making  : 

Wages  in,  88,  89. 

Women's  work  in,  88. 

Canadians : 

English,  94,  96. 

French,  25,  96. 
Chinese,  123. 
Churches : 

In  coal  fields,  154-158. 
Clothing  industry : 

Conditions  of  work  in,  2>Zf  60,  62, 
86,  87,  96. 

Corsets,  59,  97. 

Damaged  goods,  62. 

Hours  of  work  in,  36,  58,  59,  87, 
95. 


Wages  in,  ZS,  34.  58,  59,  61,  86, 
95,  96,  97. 

Women  in,  32,  33,  56,  57,  87,  88, 
96. 
Clubs : 

Association    of    Working  Girls' 
Clubs,  46,  169,  170. 

Eleanor,  171,  172. 

Lunch,  71. 

Social,  69. 
Coal  fields : 

Amusements  in,  137,  138. 

Betterment  work  in,  154-159. 

Housing     conditions     in,     133- 
136. 

Location  of,  130-133. 

Moral  conditions  in,  139. 

Needs  of  people  in. 

Tables  of  information  concerning, 
141-153. 

Women  in,  135,  137. 
College  women : 

In  investigation,  8. 

Responsibilities  of,  161. 
Consumers'  League,  164. 
Cotton  industry  : 

Conditions  in  mills,  15,  16. 

Hours  in,  16. 

Processes  in,  12-14. 

Wages  in,  17. 
Curtains : 

Typical  factories,  36,  37,  38. 

Wages,  37. 

Women's  work,  37. 

Department  stores : 

Hours  in,  65,  66. 

Life  in,  63,  64,  66,  67. 

Wages  in,  64,  65. 
Dickens,  Charles,  11. 
Dodge,  Grace  H.,  169. 


199 


INDEX 


Eleanor  Clubs,  171,  172. 
Electrical  establishments : 

Conditions  in,  67,  68. 

Hours  in,  70. 

Wages  in,  69. 

Women  in,  69. 
Employers,    need   for   cooperation 
with,  179. 

Factory  legislation : 

Need  for  improved,  165. 

Table  showing  state,  165  (insert) 
Fruit  industry  : 

Processes  in,  117,  118. 

Statistics  for,  127,  128. 

Wages  in,  118-121,  125,  126. 

Working  conditions  in,  117,  120, 
121. 

See  Vineyards. 

Gage,  Frances,  iii. 

Germans,  25,  41,  71,  90,  94,  117. 

Gohre,  Paul,  100. 

Homes  for  working  women  : 

Accommodations  of,  46,  71. 

Corporation,  93,  94. 

Eleanor  Clubs,  171,  172. 

Need  for  establishment  of,  179. 

Number  of,  46,  71. 

Rates  in,  46,  71. 

Y.  W.  C.  A.,  8. 
Hop  picking : 

Advertisements  for  workers,  loi. 

Importance  of  Oregon  in,  99. 

Living  conditions  in  fields,  104, 
105,  no. 

Statistics  for,  114. 

Sunday  in  field,  105-107. 

Wages  in,  108,  109. 

Workers  in,  99,  102. 
Hours,  need  for  reduction  of,  179. 
Hours  of  labor  in  : 

Breweries,  89,  90. 

Clothing  industry,  36,  58,  59,  87, 
95. 

Cotton  mills,  16. 

Department  stores,  65,  66. 


Electrical  establishments,  70. 
Paper-box  shops,  42. 
Potteries,  79. 
Thread  mills,  92. 
Housing : 

In  coal  fields,  133-136. 

In  Holyoke,  25,  26. 

Value  of  efforts  for,  170. 

See  Homes  for  working  women. 

Immigrants,  11. 
Indians,  123. 
Investigation : 

Federal,  163,  169. 

Value  of,  162,  163. 
Investigation,  National  Board : 

Industries  studied,  4-7. 

Method  of,  8,  9. 

Schedules  used,  182-186. 
Description  of,  8 

Scope  of,  3-7. 

States  and  cities  studied,  4-7. 
Investigators : 

Colleges  represented  by,  7. 

List  of,  181. 

Number  of,  8. 
Irish,  25,  41,  94. 
Israels,  Mrs.  Charles  Henry,  47. 
Italians,  37,  41,  117. 

Japanese,  123. 
Jews,  29,  32,  41. 

Kelley,  Mrs.  Florence,  i. 

Larcom,  Lucy,  18,  30. 
Lithuanians,  69. 

McDowell,  Mary,  168. 
Mexicans,  117. 

Nativity,  urban  and  rural,  49,  50. 

Paper  boxes : 

Hours  of  labor  in  making,  42. 

Processes  in  making,  41,  42. 

Wages  for  making,  42. 
Paper  making : 

Wages  in,  25. 


200 


INDEX 


Paper  making  —  continued : 

Women's  work  in,  24. 
Paper  novelties,  conditions  of  mak- 
ing, 44. 
Poles,  41,  57,  96. 
Potteries : 

Conditions  in,  81. 

Processes  in,  79,  80. 

Wages  in,  81. 

Women  in,  79. 
Processes  in : 

Cotton  industry,  12-14. 

Fruit  industry,  117,  118. 

Making  paper  boxes,  41,  42. 

Making  silk,  76,  77. 

Pottery  making,  79,  80. 

See  Women's  work. 
Publishing  houses,  43,  44. 

Recreation : 

Need  of  opportunities  for,  179, 
180. 

Value  of,  179,  180. 
Ribbon,  39,  40. 
Roberts,  Dr.  Peter,  130. 
Robertson,  Ina  Law,  171. 
Robins,  Mrs.  Raymond,  167. 
Russians,  117,  123,  124. 

Saleswomen.       See      Department 

stores. 
Scandinavians,  57. 
Settlements : 

Activities,  45,  46,  70,  168,  169. 

Number  of,  45,  70. 
Shoe  industry : 

Conditions  in  factories,  23. 

History  of,  17,  18. 

Seasonal  character,  20,  21. 

SpeciaHzation  in,  19. 

Wages  in,  21,  22. 

Women's  work  in,  19,  20. 
Silk: 

Processes  in  making,  76,  77. 

Wages,  77,  78. 

Women  at  work,  75. 
Simkhovitch,  Mary  Kingsbury,  168. 


Slavs,  133. 

Social  life,  opportunities  for,  53. 

Statistics : 

Charts  of,  47-54. 

Comparison  between  New  York 
and  Chicago,  71,  72. 

Fruit  industry,  127,  128. 

Hop  picking,  114. 

Middle  West,  98. 

New  England,  28,  29. 

New  Jersey,  82, 

Women   in   places   investigated, 
4-7. 

Women  wage-earners  in  United 
States,  187,  188. 

Textiles.    See  Cotton  industry,  Rib- 
bon, Thread  making,  Twine. 
Thread,  supplied  by  workers,  58. 
Thread  making : 

Conditions  in,  91,  92. 

Hours  in,  92. 

Wages  in,  93. 

Women's  work  in,  92,  93. 
Trade  training,  need  for,  175,  176. 
Trades  unions : 

Discussion  of,  165,  166,  167. 

Membership  in,  46,  71. 

Number  of,  46,  71. 
Twine : 

Conditions  of  work,  40. 

Wages,  38,  39,  40. 

Women's  work,  38,  39. 

Vineyards : 

Living  conditions  in,  121. 
Location  of,  116. 
Workers  in,  117. 

Wages  in  : 
Breweries,  90. 
Button  factories,  88,  89. 
Clothing  industry,  33,  34,  58,  59, 

61,  86,  95,  96,  97. 
Cotton  industry,  17. 
Curtain  factories,  37. 
Department  stores,  64,  65. 
Electrical  establishments,  69. 


201 


INDEX 


Wages  in  —  continued : 

Fruit  industry,  118-121,  125,126. 

Hop  picking,  108,  109. 

Paper-box  shops,  42. 

Paper  making,  25. 

Potteries,  81. 

Shoe  industry,  21,  22. 

Silk  mills,  77,  78. 

Thread  mills,  93. 

Twine  factories,  38-40. 
Wages,  need  for  increased,  178,  179. 
Wald,  Lillian  D.,  168. 
Welfare  work,  46,  71,  167,  168. 
Wettstein-Adelt,  Frau  Dr.  Minna, 

100. 
Women  : 

Effect  of  work  upon,  12. 

Reasons  for  work,  29. 
Women  in  : 

Clothing  industry,  32,  33,  56,  57, 
87,  88,  96. 

Coal  fields,  135,  137. 

Electrical  establishments,  69. 

Potteries,  79. 

Silk  factories,  75. 
Women  workers : 

Causes  of  inefficiency  of,  176. 

Effect  of  intensity  upon,  177. 

Needs  of,  83,  84,  178. 

Problems  of,  176,  177. 

Society's  duty  toward,  178. 
Women's  Trade  Union  League,  166, 
167. 


Women's  work  in : 

Breweries,  89,  90. 

Button  making,  88. 

Curtain  factories,  37. 

Paper  making,  24. 

Shoe  industry,  19,  20. 

Thread  making,  92,  93. 

Twine  factories,  38,  39. 
Working  conditions,    chart    show- 
ing, 51-     _ 
Working  conditions  in: 

Clothing  shops,  33,  60,  62,   86, 
87,  96. 

Cotton  mills,  15,  16. 

Curtain  factories,  36,  37,  38. 

Department  stores,  63,  64,  66,  67. 

Electrical  establishments,  67,  68. 

Fruit  industry,  117,  120,  121. 

Paper  novelties,  44. 

Potteries,  81. 

Shoe  factories,  23. 

Thread  factories,  91,  92. 

Twine  factories,  40. 
Wyckoff,  Professor  Walter,  100. 

Y.  M.   C.  A.,  in  coal  fields,  155, 

157,  158. 
Y.  W.  C.  A.,  2,  8  ;  170. 

In  Oregon,  in,  115. 

Methods  of  work,  172. 

National  Board,  4. 

Typical  Association,  173. 


202 


By  JANE  ADDAMS 

The  Newer  Ideals  of  Peace 

Miss  Addams  points  out  that  in  the  growth  of  the  moral  sense  of 
the  nations  the  goal  of  universal  peace  will  be  reached  through  the 
cooperation  of  the  very  elements  now  regarded  as  disturbers  —  the 
immigrant  population  in  the  large  cities.  She  discusses  the  Labor 
Movement ;  the  Protection  of  Women  and  Children  ;  "  Women  in 
City  Government,"  etc. 

The  editor  of  Collier^ s  writes :  "  To  us  it  seems  the  most  compre- 
hensive talk  yet  given  about  how  to  help  humanity  in  America 
to-day." 

"A  clean  and  consistent  setting  forth  of  the  utility  of  labor  as 
against  the  waste  of  war,  and  an  exposition  of  the  alteration  of 
standards  that  must  ensue  when  labor  and  the  spirit  of  militarism 
are  relegated  to  their  right  places  in  the  minds  of  men.  .  .  .  Back 
of  it  lies  illimitable  sympathy,  immeasurable  pity,  a  spirit  as  free  as 
that  of  St.  Francis,  a  sense  of  social  order  and  fitness  that  Marcus 
Aurelius  might  have  found  similar  to  his  own."  —  Chicago  Tribune. 

"  Miss  Addams's  always  delightful  personality  shines  forth  in  the 
book,  and  she  flies  a  high  banner  for  the  emigrant  for  civic  im- 
provement and  the  place  of  women  in  government." — Johns  Hop- 
kins Hospital  Bulletin. 

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Democracy  and  Social   Ethics 

"  Its  pages  are  remarkably  —  we  were  about  to  say  refreshingly  — 
free  from  the  customary  academic  limitations  .  .  .;  in  fact,  are  the 
result  of  actual  experience  in  hand-to-hand  contact  with  social 
problems.  .  .  .  No  more  truthful  description,  for  example,  of  the 
*boss'  as  he  thrives  to-day  in  our  great  cities  has  ever  been  written 
than  is  contained  in  Miss  Addams's  chapter  on  '  Political  Reform.' 
.  .  .  The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  the  book  in  regard  to  the  pre- 
sentation of  social  and  economic  facts."  —  Review  of  Reviews. 

"Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  upon  the  efficiency  and  in- 
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AMERICAN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS  SERIES 

Edited  by  Samuel  McCune  Lindsay,  Ph.D. 


A  series  of  handbooks  for  the  student  and  general  reader,  giving  the 
results  of  the  newer  social  thought  and  of  recent  scientific  investigations 
of  the  facts  of  American  social  life  and  institutions.  Each  volume  about 
200  pages. 

1.  The  New  Basis  of   Civilization.     By  Professor  S.  N.  Patten, 

Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  University  of  Pennsylvania.  $1.00  net 

The  new  American  Social  Progress  Series,  which  The  Macmillan 
Company  is  bringing  out  under  the  editorship  of  Professor  Sam- 
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fessor Patten's  book,  "The  New  Basis  of  Civilization."  A  well- 
known  writer  on  economics  has  characterized  it  as  "the  book 
we  have  been  waiting  for  to  put  social  work  on  the  basis  of  a 
well-reasoned  philosophy." 

2.  Standards  of  Public  Morality.    By  Arthur  Twining  Hadley, 

Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  Yale  University.  $1.00  net 

This  is  a  subject  on  which  President  Hadley  has  already  spoken 
with  conspicuous  wisdom,  and  no  man  in  America  is  better  fitted 
to  discuss  it  adequately.  The  events  of  the  past  two  or  three 
years  have  made  this  topic  one  of  general  interest,  and  Presi- 
dent Hadley's  treatment  of  it  will  be  found  full  of  suggestive 
and  stimulating  thought. 

3.  Governmental  Action  for  Social  Welfare.    By  Professor  Jere- 

miah W.  Jenks,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Cornell  University.      $1.00  net 

The  book  presents  a  great  deal  of  information  and  comment 
which  the  average  citizen  should  possess,  and  is  written  in  Pro- 
fessor Jenks's  shrewd,  practical,  and  readable  style. 

4.  Misery  and  Its  Causes.    By  Edward  T.  Devine,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

Columbia  University.  ^/.^J  net 

Poverty  and  Maladjustment.  Out  of  Work.  Out  of  Health. 
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Some  Ethical   Gains  through  Legislation 
By  FLORENCE  KELLEY 

Secretary  of  the  National  Consumers^  League 

This  interesting  volume  is  by  one  who  knows  and  sympathizes  with 
the  abject  poverty  to  be  found  in  certain  sections  of  the  country. 

It  has  grown  out  of  the  author's  experience  in  philanthropic  work 
in  Chicago  and  New  York,  and  her  service  for  the  State  of  Illinois 
and  for  the  Federal  Government  in  investigating  the  circumstances 
of  the  poorer  classes,  and  conditions  in  various  trades. 

The  value  of  the  work  lies  in  information  gathered  at  close  range 
in  a  long  association  with,  and  effort  to  improve  the  condition  of, 
the  very  poor. 

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Studies  in  the  Evolution  of  Industrial  Society 
By  RICHARD  T.  ELY,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

University  of  Wisconsin 

Professor  Ely  discusses  in  a  straightforward  way  the  progress  of 
the  working  classes,  the  changes  in  their  condition,  their  tendencies 
toward  better  and  brighter  things,  and  the  effect  of  these  tendencies 
on  society  generally.  The  benefit  of  competition  and  the  improve- 
ment of  the  race,  municipal  ownership  and  concentration  of  wealth, 
are  treated  in  a  sane,  helpful,  and  interesting  manner. 

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Education  and  Industrial  Evolution 
By  FRANK  T.  CARLTON,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  Economics  and  History  in  Albion  College 

The  importance  of  general  educational  advance  to  industrial 
progress  and  the  necessity  for  manual  training  as  a  means  of  de- 
velopment among  the  working  classes,  are  subjects  of  the  greatest 
general  interest  to-day.  Professor  Carlton  is  probably  one  of  the 
best  equipped  men  in  the  country  to  handle  this  subject  clearly 
and  dwells  especially  on  the  importance  of  a  broader  industrial 
education. 

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POVERTY.      A  Definition  and  an  Estimate  of  its  Extent 
By  ROBERT  HUNTER 

President  of  the  Social  Reform  Club;  Chairman  of  New  York 
Child  Labor  Committee;  formerly  head  worker  of  the  Uni- 
versity Settlement  of  New  York 

"  I  cannot  delay  writing  you  of  my  profound  interest  in  your  new 
book,  *  Poverty,'  which  I  have  to-day  read,  with  instruction,  with 
satisfaction,  and  with  a  deep  sense  of  your  mastery  of  the  subject. 
.  .  .  Your  chapter  on  '  The  Immigrant  '  seems  to  me  the  most  con- 
cise, the  most  convincing,  and  the  most  logical  brief  statement  of  the 
subject  that  I  have  ever  seen."  • —  Robert  De  C.  Ward,  Harvard 
University. 

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THE  SOCIAL  UNREST 

By  JOHN  GRAHAM  BROOKS 

Mr.  Bliss  Perry,  the  editor  of  The  Atlantic  Monthly,  says  of  it: 
"  A  fascinating  book  —  to  me  the  clearest,  sanest,  most  helpful  dis- 
cussion of  economic  and  human  problems  I  have  read  for  years." 

Mr.  Edward  Gary,  in  The  New  York  Times^  Saturday  Review^ 
writes :  *'  Hardly  a  page  but  bears  evidence  of  his  patience, 
industry,  acuteness,  and  fair-mindedness.  .  .  .  We  wish  it  were 
possible  that  his  book  could  be  very  generally  read  on  both  sides. 
Its  manifest  fairness  and  sympathy  as  regards  the  workingmen  will 
tend  to  the  accomplishment  of  this  result;  its  equal  candor  and  in- 
telligence with  regard  to  the  employers  should  have  a  like  effect 
with  them." 

"  Perhaps  the  most  valuable  portion  of  it  is  that  which  treats  of 
French  and  German  Socialism,  in  the  knowledge  of  which  the 
author  probably  has  few  superiors  in  this  country."  —  Literary 
Digest, 

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OUTLINES   OF    ENGLISH   INDUSTRIAL 
HISTORY 

By  WILLIAM  CUNNINGHAM  and 
E.  A.  M' ARTHUR 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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